


































































































































































































Book 'tV;H3 
Gpiglrt’N?_> 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 


























THE AUTHOR. 










THE 


% 



OR A COMMENTARY ON THE 


KENTUCKY SCHOOL LAWS 


AND THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE 


STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 


By HOWARD A 


M. HENDERSON, A, 

* « ’ 


M., D. D., LL. D. 


STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, PRESIDENT OF THE STATE 
BOARD OF EDUCATION, PRESIDENT OF THE STATE BOARD OF EXAMINERS, 
PRESIDENT OF THE STATE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION, PRESIDENT OF 
THE SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF HIGHER AND 
-T«€*«il£AL EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY, COUNSELLOR 
ATIONAL TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. 

> J v , 

» * 

3 » 

* * B ' 




FRANKFORT, KY.: 

PRINTED AT THE KENTUCKY YEOMAN OFFICE . 

MAJOR, JOHNSTON & BARRETT. 

1877. 







Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, 
By HOWARD A. M. HENDERSON, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



STKREOTYTED BY 
MAJOR, JOHNSTON * BARRETT, 
FRANKFORT, KY. 


} 




r 





DEDICATION. 


' TO 

MY MOTHER, 

WHO HAS NEVER FAILED ME, AND NEVER WILL, 

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK, 

KNOWING THAT 
BUT ONE OTHER WILL BE 
SO SPARING OF UNFRIENDLY CRITICISM, 

AND DISCERN SO MUCH MERIT 
IN THE 

MINTAGE OF MY MIND. 

WIDOWED ERE I KNEW MY LETTERS, 

IIER FIRST AMBITION FOR HER SON WAS 
TO HAVE HIM EDUCATED, 

AND SHE HAS LEFT NOTHING UNDONE 
THAT MATERNAL AFFECTION COULD SUGGEST 
AND HER MEANS WOULD ALLOW, 

TO BESTOW THIS GREATEST BOON ON ME, 
RIGHTLY APPREHENDING 
THAT IT WAS BETTER TO LAY UP 
IN ME THAN FOR ME. 












VII 


INDEX. 


Affidavit in appeal..7 

Agent, duty of, with respect to donations. 31 

compensation of. 31 

Agreed statement in appeals.113 

Agricultural and Mechanical College. 76 

Alien entitled to vote for tax. 36 

who is an. 36 

Answer of Commissioner to appeal.119 

Appeal must be directed to the State Board.115 

from revocation of teacher’s certificate.in 

must be in writing.117 

how to proceed.117 

must be taken within thirty days.118 

none from action fixing site of a school-house.150 

Appeals concerning boundary of a district.90, 124, 126 

Architecture, manual of. 80 

Attendance, irregularity.194 

Attorney General to advise Superintendent. 81 

addressed through the Superintendent .... 82 

Assessors’ lists of taxable property. 46 

Association, State Teachers’. .67, 69 

County.212, 217, 218 

Constitution of.213 

Assistant teacher’s certificate.183 

Auditor to furnish estimate to Superintendent. 18 

Superintendent’s apportionment filed with. 18 

Audit of Commissioner’s accounts.28, 29 

Averages, rule for making.79, 107, 108 

Blanks, duty of Superintendent to prepare. 77 

cost and care of.104 

Blind, Institution for.72, 73 

Bond, county, principal cannot be used. 13 


































VIII 


INDEX. 


Bonds, legal charge on Sinking Fund.14, 25 

law distributing principal of, declared to be unconstitu¬ 
tional. 20, 25 

interest applied by the Legislature to indemnifying errors, 25 

aggregate sum of county. 25 

county having largest and smallest. 26 

Superintendent Smith’s remarks on county. 26 

Bond of agent having charge of donations to School Fund ... 31 

county judge to require of Commissioner.88, 122, 262 

form of Commissioners’. 263, 264 

collectors’.169 

Bonus, that of Kentucky larger than Massachusetts or Pennsyl¬ 
vania .•.. 35 

Boundary, county judge should require, &c. 79 

Boundaries of districts.90, 124, 126 

Board of Education, how composed. 53 

who now members of. 54 

who President of. 54 

powers of. 54 

when to meet. . .. 54 

bonds in custody of President. 54 

prepares rules, &c. 54 

Board of County Examiners, how constituted.183 

when to convene.183 

Board of State Examiners.195 

Book, Commissioners’. 77 

Books, assessors’, form of. 47 

only one on a subject allowed. 61 

recommended. 62 

uniformity of.198, 200 

for District Libraries.226 

Brokerage in school claims reprehensible.121 

Breckinridge, Rev. Dr., debate with Gov. Helm. 8 

Superintendent. II 

Capitation tax, when levied, and for what.154, 159 

for what used.160 

Census, report by Commissioner. 93 

Commissioner may have taken. 95 

of cities and towns desiring to establish graded schools, 95 

who included in.95, 238 

cannot be corrected.96, 174 




































INDEX. 


IX 


Census, no change in a boundary after taken.123 

Trustee to take.173 

who embraced in. ..173, 174 

Certificate of teacher, how revoked.no 

of no value without Commissioner’s signature. ... 114 

indispensable qualification for a teacher.162 

how dated.180 

renewal of first-class. 180 

forfeited for failure to attend Institute.207, 208 

law concerning defined ..181 

must be obtained prior to teaching.182 

State, how obtained.195, 198 

City, privilege to levy lax. . 53 

desiring to establish a system.131, 132 

Charters, special, for graded schools.132 

Children’s right to attend school. 170 

Challenge of person offering to vote.134 

Character required in a teacher.185 

Circuit judge’s duty to charge grand jury.239, 240 

Commissioners, when county judges to audit their accounts, 29, 264 
when a change of county judge to determine the 

pay of each.29, 266 

fund. . . 30 

to furnish teachers with rules, etc. 61 

book.*. 77 

to be recognized by Superintendent when there 

is a contest. 81 

right to office contested by quo warranto .... 81 

county, beginning of article 5. 82 

meaning of “ good moral character”. 82 

meaning of “ability to manage,” &c. 83 

meaning of “English education”. 85 

by whom and when elected.87 

to take oath and make bond. 88 

lays off di-tricts. 89 

to visit schools.89, 91, 92, 226 

appeals from to State Board of Education in 

changing a boundary. 90 

to report census. 93 

to report schools for payment. 98 

may swear Trustees.100 





































X 


INDEX. 


Commissioners to make settlement.102 

when to be in office.103 

official report to Superintendent.104 

epistolary report to Superintendent.107 

duty to examine for certificates.114 

duty to decide questions.115 

not allowed to buy a teacher’s claim.122 

to make delivery to successor.122 

vacancy, how filled.122 

for what may be removed. .... 122 

reward for a defaulting.123 

may teach a Common School.. 182 

to provide teachers with rules, &c.173 

may remove a teacher for failure to enforce 

course of study, regulations, &c.187 

to report Institute to Superintendent.218 

county judge not eligible to . . ..262 

county judge may have a candidate examined . 262 

oath, form of.263 

bond, form of.. 263, 264 

directory of rules for making reports.105 

County judge to audit Commissioner’s accounts.28, 264 

should allow discount on checks, etc. 29 

Commissioner to make settlement.102 

votes in common with justices. 87 

not eligible to Commissioner’s office. 88 

to ascertain validity of Commissioner’s bond. . . 172 

his duty discussed at length.261, 269 

Court of claims should pay discount on checks, etc.17, 29 

can appoint a commission to examine a candi¬ 
date for Commissioner. 85 

Contest of an election for tax.40, 41 

Course of study.61, 62, 187 

Composition and elocution may be required.66, 191 

County Associations . . .212, 218 

Clerk of county court to certify Commissioner’s election .... 89 

Constitution of State Teachers’ Association.67, 69 

Corporations subject to tax.. 42 

Corporation, Trustee a sole ... . 141 

Costs, none in appeals to State Board.120 


Controverted cases, Commissioner to recognize a Trustee. ... 121 




































INDEX, 


XI 


Common School, but one to a district.127 

Common Schools, system of, established by towns and cities . . 131 

defined, beginning of article 11.232 

Contracts annulled by revocation of teacher’s certificate .... 166 

between teacher and Trustee.162-169 

Collector, Trustee may appoint.169 

bond of.169 

Conclusion.269 

Deeds vest in Trustees . ..141 

Deed, form of, for site of school-house.148 

Definition of law concerning certificates.181 

Deaf and Dumb, Institution for. 74 

Diagram, desirable in appeals.115 

Directory of rules in making reports.105 

District taxation, beginning of article 2. 32 

remarks on.32-36 

discussed.255—259 

District tax, how voted. 36 

who voters for. 36 

moneys loaned subject to. 39 

manufacturing corporations subject to .... . 42 

recording votes for. 4° 

votes rejected wrongfully. 40 

contest of. 4 °» 4 1 

appeal of contesting party. 4 1 

Commissioner to report amount raised by. 52 

Districts laid off by Commissioner. 89 

fractional, how territory is reclaimed. 91 

Superintendent cannot change. 97 

when change in can be made .. .123 

cannot be enlarged without written notice. 123 

to be known by numbers . I2 4 

when a new one is made to which school-house belongs, 125 

number of children to be in.126 

description to be kept in book.127 

fractional. I2 ^ 

when two adjoin, children may, by consent, be taught 

in the most convenient school.129 

District Library. 2I 9 

regulations .. 221 

books for. 22 & 





































XII 


INDEX. 


Districting, court of claims aiding the Commissioner. 92 

Education, Board of, beginning of article 3.53 

Election, not invalidated by failure to return or the loss of the 

poll-book ..41, 136 

how to organize for.135 

Commissioner’s right to preside. 50 

Electors, names of registered. 41 

who “ white qualified ” . .36, 133 

residence of, determined.37, 38 

residence of, how lost. 37 

votes of, wrongfully rejected. 40 

a fair and true record of votes of. 48 

Elementary Department. 57 

Error as to fund for paying teachers. 28 

Examiners County Board, of whom composed .180 

what they should consider.180 

oath, form of.184 

may select uniform series of text-books.199 

chapter on duties.250 

fee of.184, 195 

State Board of.195, 225 

Examination for teachers made by Commissioner.114 

of teachers, chapter on.250-254 

by court of claims of candidates for Commissioner, 262 

Expenses, incidental, how paid. 17 

Fees to clerks, discount, and incidental expenses, how paid. . . 12 

Fee for examinations for certificates.184, 195 

Institute matriculation.211 

Feeble-minded, Institute for. 73 

Form of revoking teacher’s certificate.in 

notice to Commissioner of appeal.116 

Trustee’s oath.138, 139 

deed for site..148 

Trustee’s agreement with teacher.169 

collector’s bond.169 

examiner’s oath.184 

certificate of character to State Board of Examiners. . 196 

Commissioner’s oath.263 

Commissioner’s bond.263, 264 

assessor’s book. . 47 

Free, the school must be.109, 234 






































INDEX. 


XIII 


Fractional district, how territory is reclaimed.91, 175 

how laid off ... 128 

Fund, School, constitutional. I2 

can only be used to pay teachers and necessary 

expenses of system.13, 157 

created by statutes.13, 14 

growth of.14-16 

difference between actual and estimated, to be de¬ 
ducted from that of succeeding year. 18 

cannot be pro rated on tuition bills. 176, 234, 238 

Furniture, what Trustee may purchase.41, 52, 160 

Graded Schools, levying tax for. 53 

cities and towns establishing.131, 132 

chapter on.259, 260 

Gradation of schools, importance of.191, 192 

Grand jury, duties concerning school officers, 52, 102, 109, 122, 138, 

139 , 152 , 173 

Hands, when called out.152, 158 

Henderson, II. A. M., installed Superintendent. 10 

term as Superintendent . II 

High School Department. 55 

when common may be attached to.237 

Historical sketch of education in Kentucky.2-11 

Holidays, legal.109, 235 

Instruction, course of recommended by the State Board .... 55 

aids to, may be purchased.42, 52, 160 

Irregularity of attendance.194 

Institute, Superintendent to be informed of time of holding . . 67 

beginning of article nine.207 

fee, matriculation.211 

place of .212 

notices of.212 

several counties may unite in holding.218 

discussed. 241-249 

Constitution of. 246 

programme for.247-249 

Institution for the Blind. 7 2 > 73 

Feeble-minded Children. 73 > 74 

Deaf and Dumb. 74 > 75 

Intermediate Department. 55 

Judges, county, to audit Commissioner’s accounts.28, 264 



































XIV 


INDEX. 


Judges, county, should x-equire Commissioner to bring before him 


the boundaries of districts.79 > 264 

duties of discussed in chapter 3.261-269 

Judges, circuit, duty to charge the grand jury.239, 240 

Judge of an election, when liable for refusing votes. 4a 

who to act—his duty.132-135 

penalty against.138 

Lands, whei'e to be taxed. 42 

Laws, decisions, etc., to be published and distributed. 80 

Legal school, what is.109, 234 

holidays.109, 235 

Levy, not vitiated by sheriff’s failure to collect. 50 

Library, district, beginning of article 10.219 

License to teach, when issued.179, 181 

Litigation, State Board will decline to entertain appeals when in, 116 

Mandamus compelling Trustee to build school-house.157 

Married people under twenty may be reported in census .... 93 

Merchants no right to deduct indebtedness. 43 

Manufacturing corporations liable to tax. 42 

Moral character of Commissioner. 82 

Trustee.133 

teachers.184, 186 

Negro blood, children having, excluded from white schools. . . 234 

Notices, posting, law concerning.39, 133 

Trustee failing to post.39, 134 

of removal of Trustee or teacher.114 

placed in post-office deemed sufficient.120 

written, to change boundary of a district required. . . 123 

written, to be given Commissioner of transfer of pupils 

from one district to another . 130 

must state purpose for which election is held.136 

inviting children to attend school.170 

of holding Institxxte.212 

should express object to which tax is to be applied. . 51, 53 

Numbers, districts to be known by.124 

Oath to Trustees may be administered by the Commissioner . . 100 

by Trustees only once taken.100 

of Trustees, form.137 

of County Examiner.184 

of County Commissioner.263 

Oaths, by whom may be administered.50, 100 



































INDEX. 


XV 

Obligation, moral, to pay a teacher cannot be enforced.142 

Officers of election not required by statute to be sworn. ... 39 

Office, when Commissioner to be in.103, 104 

right to, determined, when contested, by quo warranto, 138, 141 

Passways, Trustees to provide.143 

Patrons, who are. 159 

Payments, why delayed. 98 

when made.177 

to be made teachers. 99 

Penalty of judge of an election.158, 159 

Trustee for not making reports.177 

Poll-book, loss of does not invalidate election.136, 139 

Post-office address of Trustees and teachers required. 66 

Preference for another not legal unacceptability.112 

Primary Department, course of instruction.55—57 

Private schools, when may be taught.234 

how Common School may be attached.237 

Pro rata share, when published.17, 18 

how ascertained. 19 

pay school cannot apply to tuition.238 

Proxy must be written. 38 

Commissioner cannot visit by. 91 

Property listed, how valued. 43 

what, for taxation.44, 45 

exempt from taxation. 44 

Pupil, how de-graded. 61 

children, who. 93 

refusal to give names of. 93 

residence of. 95 

if not reported not debarred school .... 97, 175 

number of in a district.126 

■when two districts adjoin may, by consent, go to the most 

convenient school.129 

unabridged right to attend school.170 

teacher may suspend.187 

expel.188 

religion to be respected.194 

may be punished.192-194, 236 

residence of.202 

Qualified voters, who.36, 133 

teacher, who is.162 






































XVI 


INDEX. 


Questions asked a citizen objected to at the polls. 37 > 3 ^ 

of difference, difficulty, &c., decided by Commissioner, 115 

Quo warranto contest of Commissioner’s office. 81 

to determine right of office.138, 141 

Rate, amendment, the old. 32 

remarks on.32, 33 

Rate, none can be levied.42, 170 

Record, Trustee to keep.143 

what Trustee’s, should contain.144 

of voters “a fair and true”. 48 

Register and report, teacher’s.78, 177 » *86 

Religion of pupils to be respected.. 194 

Rent, not paid with School Fund.157 

Report of Superintendent. 7 I- 7 2 

Commissioners, for payment of schools. 98 

Commissioners to Superintendent, official.104 

Commissioners to Superintendent, epistolary .... 107 

Reports, Trustee’s, how to be signed.177 

don’t have to swear to.178 

Residence of voter, how determined and lost.36-38 

a child.95, 202 

Revenue, school, distributed, how ascertained. 17 

Reviser of school statutes, the Superintendent.240 

Roads, Trustee to open.145 

exempt from working on.178 

Rules and regulations adopted by State Board.54-63, 236 

Rules, directory of, in making report.105 

of State Board mandatory.120, 173 

right of Trustees to adopt.171 

directory of, for making Commissioners’ reports.105 

for District Library.221-225 

Superintendent’s office constitutional. 13 

expenses not paid. 71 

Superintendent to deduct Commissioner’s fund. 30 

his duty with respect to donations. 31 

beginning of article 4. 70 

report furnished each Trustee. 71 

to report neglect of duty. 80 

to publish laws, decisions, etc. 80 

Surplus funds, decision with reference to.20-25 

Dr. Breckinridge’s remarks concerning. 26 









































INDEX. XVII 

Surplus funds to be returned to Auditor.122 

Surveyor, county, employed in districting.128 

Suspension may be for definite time or term.195 

Salary of teacher supplemented. 55 » 97 > 238 

School, Common, defined.232 

legal, what.234 

to be visited by Commissioner. 89 

when to commence.59, 235 

legal term of.109, no 

must be free.109 

but one to a district.127 

when paid.176 

Trustee to visit.171 

Schools, graded.53, 131, 132, 259 

high.55 > 2 37> 239 

School-house, site of.144-151 

how condemned.151 

controlled by Trustee.154, 235 

for what used.155 

insurance of.156 

Trustee to provide.156 

belongs to the district in which located when 

boundary is changed.125 

to be erected near centre of district.126, 127 

Seal not necessary.143 

Trustee’s private in lieu of corporate.142 

Second teacher, when employed.236 

Sectarian, no Common School can be.235, 238 

Sessions, when to begin.59, 235 

Seminary, when Common School may be attached.236 

Settlement of Commissioner with county judge..102 

Sheriff’s failure to collect tax..43, 49, 50 

Smith’s, Mr., objection to rate bills. 32 

State Teachers’ Association.67-69 

State Board of Education. 53 

Examiners.195 

Statutes, school, revised by Superintendent.240 

Subscription papers, responsibility of those who sign.201 

school cannot exclude any pupil if partly supported 
by Common School Fund.234 


2 








































XVIII 


INDEX. 


Superintendents, succession of. II 

Tax, last general voted. IO 

school compensatory. 35 

to what can be applied].41, 42 

in fractional district. 42 

on hands, when subject to ... .. 42 

corporations subject to. 42 

capitation, when levied.154, 159 

how may be collected, if to pay teacher.169 

object to be applied to be stated in election notices. ... 51 

order of desirableness of levy. 51 

Commissioners to report amount, &c., to Superintendent . 53 

Taxes collected during current scholastic year.28 

Taxation, how property listed for is valued.. 43 

what property liable to.1. 44 

district, beginning of article 2. 32 

local, approved method. 33-3^ 

what property exempt. 44 

privilege of cities. 53 

school property exempt from.158 

district discussed and illustrated. 255-259 

Tax-payers, vote of a district binding on. 39 

what can be deducted.43-44 

Teacher, when entitled to pay. 27 

must have certificate, and why. 27 

principal has charge of school-house, etc. 59 

discipline of. .... 59 

to keep register. 61 

to respect and enforce rules and regulations of State 

Board.64, 65 

money to be paid to.99, 121 

to keep and return register and report. 78 

to attend the Institute.113 

forfeits certificate by failing to attend Institute .... 113 

to be employed by new Trustee.137 

not to make fires, &c. 160 

who is qualified.16, 162, 180 

for what dismissed.167, 168, 169 

form of agreement with.169 

assistant must have certificate.183, 236 

examination of.250 





































INDEX, 


XIX 

Teacher, character required of.185, 195, 196 

to enforce course of study.187 

for what may expel a pupil.1B8 

his power to punish.192-194 

should make written contracts.201 

Teachers, beginning of article 8.179' 

time, how counted. 204-209' 

salary exempt from attachment. 205- 

Institute, beginning of article 9.* * * 20/ 

valid excuses. 110 

control of Library.220 

certificate, how and for what revoked.no 

certificate being revoked, can appeal.111 

reinstatement of, when certificate has been revoked. . 200 

Term, session, legal, of schools. . . ..28, 59 

daily, session of, section 6. 59 

Testimony of witness should be written down.118 

Text-book, but one on a subject to same grade allowed—sec¬ 
tion 19. 61 

Text-books recommended by State Board. 62 

County Board of Examiners may select.198 

Trustee’s discretion. 62 

Board of Education’s decision concerning.199 

present law opposed by Superintendent, and why, 199, 200 
Tie, in case of voting for Commissioner, no election, 87, 122, 134, 262 

judge of an election two votes in case of.134 

Title, holder of equitable, lists and pays taxes. 43 

Towns establishing a system of schools.131 

Trustee, beginning of article 7.132 

election of, how conducted, who votes, &c.132-136 

must be a voter of the district.133 

his general character. 133 

form of his oath .137 

does not lose office because of negligence of the officers 

of the election.139 

vacancy in office of, how filled.139 

office incompatible with justice of the peace.141 

may be removed by the Commissioner.141 

a sole corporation. .14 1 

to record transactions.143 

duty to acquire land for school-house, passways, &c., 144, 145 





































XX 


INDEX. 


Trustee controls school-house.I 54 > 155 

provides school-house. 156 

can call out hands.152, 158 

and teacher contracting.162 

may appoint collector. 43, 169 

to invite children to attend school.170 

visit school.171 

enforce rules, &c., of State Board.171, 172 

take census.173 

make report when district is entitled to receive its 

proportion of the school revenue.* . . . 176 

should make report in Teacher’s Register.177 

penalty of for not reporting.177 

reports, how to be signed. 177 

removing vacates office.177 

when and for what liable to be removed.178 

exempt from certain duties.178 

when office of is controverted, Commissioner to recog¬ 
nize one.121 

to bring suit against sureties of a defaulting Commis¬ 
sioner.123 

to be furnished with the boundary of a district .... 127 

his oath. 100 

his oath, when it may be taken.104 

to employ teacher. . . .114, 137, 162 

newly elected to employ teacher.137 

liability, if he employs an unqualified teacher . . . ' . . 51 

for what personally liable.204, 207 

duty as to use of text-books.. . . 61, 63, 191 

duty to select text-books. 63 

cannot contract with the Trustees of a seminary, &c., to 

part with any of his jurisdiction. 239 

to state the exact tax in notices it is proposed to levy . 53 

in submitting question of local tax must be careful to 

follow the law . .. 41 

in collecting tax, has recourse on non-resident owner or 

tenant. 39 

may organize a Library. 219 

to remember Collins’ History is public property .... 220 
Trustees of two adjoining districts may agree to transfer of pupils 
to schools most convenient.129 


































INDEX. 


XXI 

Tuition fee, when charged.55, 66, 176, 234, 238 

bills, no crediting of school funds on. 97 

Unacceptability not mere preference for another.. 112 

Unconstitutional, parts declared by Court of Appeals, 13, 16, 20, 179 

Uniformity of text-books.198 } 200 

Vacancy of Commissioner, how filled.122 

of Trustee, how filled.139, 140 

right of Commissioner to create Trustee.140 

Village, name of should be reported in census.124 

Villages establishing a system of schools.131 

Visitation of school by Commissioner.89, 91, 92 

cannot be made by proxy. 91 

by Trustee.171 

Vote wrongfully rejected. 40 

officers responsible for rejecting legal. 40 

challenged. 134 

patrons, whether Common School shall be attached to 

Academy, etc.237 

Voters, who “white qualified”.36, 133 

residence of, how lost. 37 

a “fair and true record” of, to be kept. 48 

Wages, teacher’s, to be paid him. . . .99, 121 

* exempt from attachment.205 

Warrants, school, not negotiable.121 

Widow, when a voter. 36 

must have children, or be a tax-payer, to vote for dis¬ 
trict taxation. 38, 133 

must have children of pupil age to vote for Trustee . . 132 

Woman, divorced, not to vote. 38 

whose husband is a lunatic, is not entitled to vote ... 38 

unmarried, no vote. 38 

Word method recommended.52, 63 

Writ quo warranto .81, 138, 141 

ad quod damnum .147, 178 

of injunction.138 

in invitum .15 1 

mandamus.157 


* Our Court of Appeals has decided that a teacher's wages cannot be attached or gar¬ 
nisheed for debt, and the text of the opinion of the Court, in the case of Tracy <&» Loya 
vs. Hornbuckle and wife, may be found in 8 th Bush, 236. 











































































































































































































































PREFACE. 


Perceiving, soon after my induction, nearly six years 
ago, to the office of Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion, how general was the lack of information upon 
school matters, and being perplexed myself, at the first, 
to find sources of reliable information that would lead 
me to the proper answer of the multitude of questions 
with which I was continuously being interrogated, I be¬ 
gan to file these queries and index the legal information 
with which I, by degrees, came in contact, with the view 
ultimately of writing this commentary on the school 
laws. Just how much labor of investigation and thought 
this work has cost me, I will never be able to tell, for it 
has been a gradual growth, and is the blossoming of my 
observation and experience. My first thought was to 
give it to the State, and publish it at public expense; 
but, upon reflection, it occurred to me that if I made it 
accessible to the Trustees I would have to furnish each 
of the nine thousand with a copy, which would entail an 
aggregate cost that I was unwilling to incur and charge 
to the school treasury. I therefore determined to print 
at my own expense, and, by taking a few advertisements 
for the fly-leaves, to so cheapen the publication as to 
make it easily accessible to all. 

It will be found a vade mecum for school officers, while 
lawyers and others, I trust, will find it a valuable acces¬ 
sion to their professional libraries. Educated myself for 
I 



2 


PREFACE. 


a lawyer, and a graduate of a school of commerce and 
law, I have found these early advantages of great service 
to me in the office I fill, and in the preparation of this 
commentary. Since I have been President of the State 
Board of Education I have presided over more than 
twelve hundred appeal cases, and written the judicial 
opinion in each. Since I have been Superintendent I 
have answered more than seven thousand letters con¬ 
taining legal questions. Many of these involved, of 
course, the same or similar answers. It is believed 
that this book contains substantially all the information 
sought in this voluminous correspondence. It ought 
to have the effect of relieving the Trustees of mental 
perplexity, and the Commissioners and Superintendent 
of many questions, and the State Board of Education 
of hundreds of appeals, and also serve to prevent much 
annoying and expensive litigation. In almost every 
instance there is legal authority for every opinion ex¬ 
pressed and principle laid down, though it is not always 
referred to by title. 

My great object has been to furnish a work which 
would help to lighten the labors of school officials, and 
thereby remove one great objection prevailing to taking 
the offices in the counties. 

I shall continue to index the questions propounded to 
me, that future editions may be as complete as my grow¬ 
ing experience. 

H. A. M. HENDERSON, 

Supt. Public Instruction . 

Office Supt. of Public Instruction, 1 
Frankfort, Ky., July ist, 1877. / 


HISTORICAL SKETCH 


OF 

PUBLIC EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 


From Collins History of Kentucky I partially compile 
the following: 

“The Statutes of Kentucky show that the first exper¬ 
iments to extend the fostering aid and care of State pat¬ 
ronage to the interests of general education were made 
nearly three quarters of a century ago. An act of the 
Legislature, approved February io, 1798, donated and 
set apart, of the public lands of the Commonwealth, 
6,000 acres each, for the benefit and support of Frank¬ 
lin, Salem, and Kentucky Academies, and for Lexington 
and Jefferson Seminaries. Similar acts were approved 
December 21, 1805, and January 27, 1808, embracing 
like provisions, and extending them to all the existing 
counties of the State. Within twenty years from the 
passage of the first act above, the following additional 
academies and seminaries were endowed with the grant 
of 6,000 acres each: Shelby, Logan, Ohio, Madison, 
New Athens, Bethel, Bourbon, Bracken, Bullitt, Flem¬ 
ing, Hardin, Harrison, Harrodsburg, Lancaster, Mont¬ 
gomery, Newport, Newton, Rittenhouse, Stanford, Wash- 



4 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

ington, Winchester, Woodford, Somerset, Transylva¬ 
nia, Glasgow, Greenville, Liberty, Rockcastle, Lebanon, 
Knox, Boone, Clay, Estill, Henry, Greenup, Grayson, 
Warren, Breckinridge, Caldwell, Gallatin, Henderson, 
Union, Adair, Allen, Daviess, and Pendleton. 

“ A law provided * that all the lands lying within the 
bounds of this Commonwealth, on the south side of 
Cumberland river, and below Obed’s river, now vacant, 
etc., shall be reserved for the endowment and use of 
seminaries of learning throughout the Commonwealth/ 
The county courts of the several counties were author¬ 
ized to have surveyed, located, and patented within their 
respective counties, or within the above reserve, or else¬ 
where in the State, 6,000 acres each for seminary pur¬ 
poses, and all such lands were exempted from taxation. 
These grants were noble in purpose and liberal in plan. 
But, by subsequent ill-considered and unwise acts, the 
lands were allowed to be sold by county authorities; and 
the proceeds of sales, in the hands of self-existing and 
self-perpetuating trusteeships, were prodigally expended 
and squandered in every conceivable way. In some coun¬ 
ties these proceeds are altogether lost to view; in others, 
the remains are lodged in the hands of the Trustees 
appointed, and forgotten or neglected by the interested 
public; while in others, again, these remains of funds or 
lands are yet held for their original uses by the Trustees. 
But, for the want of wise laws and more competent and 
guarded management, a great plan, and its means of 
success, for the establishment and support of a system 
of public seminaries of a high order in each county, was 
rendered an abortive failure. It has been affirmed that 
in a single county, these lands, if they had been held 
and rented or leased out, could now be sold for near 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


5 


$500,000. This is an extreme instance, but we may 
safely assume that the lands might have been made to 
realize a permanent and producing average school fund 
of $60,000 in each county, under proper direction and 
control. 

“An act of December 18, 1821, provided that one 
half the net profits of the Bank of the Commonwealth 
should be set apart as the ‘Literary Fund,’ to be distrib¬ 
uted in just proportions to the counties of the State for 
the support of a general system of education, under leg¬ 
islative direction; and that one half of the net profits of 
the branch banks at Lexington, Danville, and Bowling 
Green, should be donated to Transylvania University, 
Center College, and the Southern College of Kentucky, 
respectively. Until the failure of the old Common¬ 
wealth’s Bank of Kentucky, a few years later, this last 
appropriation yielded about $60,000 per annum. 

“Hons. Wm. T. Barry, J. R. Witherspoon, D. R. 
Murray, and John Pope, from a committee appointed 
at the same time to confer with eminent educators, col¬ 
lect information, and prepare a plan of Common Schools, 
to be supported by these revenues, made an able and 
elaborate report to the next General Assembly in 1822, 
with an accompanying report from Hon. Geo. Robert¬ 
son. In the report of the committee they publish most 
able and instructive letters in advocacy of public educa¬ 
tion, as an essential element of good statesmanship, and 
as incidental to the successful maintenance of republican 
institutions, from ex-Presidents John Adams, Thomas 
Jefferson, James Madison, and from Hon. Robert G. 
Payne. Though the report of the committee was sent 
in to the Legislature with an approving message by 
Gov. Adair, that honorable body failed to improve the 


6 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


occasion and to pass suitable laws in behalf of the great 
interests involved. 

‘‘About the same time resolutions were passed by 
the Legislature requesting our Senators and Representa¬ 
tives in Congress to advocate a bill for distributing the 
proceeds of the public lands to the older States—as the 
newer States had been greatly favored by Congressional 
grants —‘for the purposes of education.' The resolutions 
went on to state the fact that 15,000,000 acres had been 
donated to the new States, and that 10,000,000 should 
now be granted to the older, to establish a just equi¬ 
librium; and that 1,000,000 should be appropriated to 
Kentucky, for the purposes named. 

“It was not, however, until the act of Congress ap¬ 
proved June 23, 1836, that any practical results were 
attained by the importunities of the State. Instead of 
land, Congress apportioned about $15,000,000 of sur¬ 
plus money in the Treasury to the several older States, 
in the form of a loan—of which Kentucky’s share was 
$1,433,757. Though no provision of the law imposed 
on our State the obligation to devote this fund exclu¬ 
sively to ‘purposes of education,’ yet it was asked on 
this plea, and granted with this expectancy. Yet, by 
act of February 23, 1837, #1,000,000 only of the fund 
was set apart as the financial basis of our educational 
system; and by act of February 16, 1868, this amount 
was actually reduced to $8^0,000. This is the origin 
and principal resource of our permanently-invested School 
Fund, from the interest of which, for many years, we 
derived our only Public School revenues, and from which 
a portion of our annual school revenues are now derived. 
By accumulations of unexpended surplus from year to 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 7 

year, and the continual addition of this to the principal, 
this permanent fund is now $1,327,000. 

“In 1838 the first law was enacted for the establish¬ 
ment of a general system of Common Schools in Ken¬ 
tucky; but, for ten years, the system languished and 
struggled with feeble life and doubtful success, under the 
ruthless hands of unsympathizing and crude legislation. 
The State Treasury and credit began to weaken and 
totter under the ill-advised system of internal improve¬ 
ments into which the State had embarked, add by which 
she was lavishing her finances on a multitude of isolated 
experiments, with the prospect of finishing nothing. 
The revenues of the School Fund were the first to suf¬ 
fer. As early as 1840, the Commissioners of the Sink¬ 
ing Fund declined payment of the interest on the school 
bond due by the State, when a deficit occurred in the 
Treasury, and the Legislature sustained the action on 
the plea that, as it was in the nature of a debt due her¬ 
self by the State, there was no loss of credit in refusing 
payment or repudiation. Up to 1843 there had been 
paid, for the benefit of Common Schools, $2,504, while 
there was $116,375 of interest due and unpaid. By act 
approved February 10, 1845, all the school bonds were 
required to be delivered to the Governor, to be burned 
in the presence of the Auditor and Treasurer, and du¬ 
plicate lists of the same ordered to be made out, but 
not deliverable or transferable. It was on account of 
this spirit of inconsiderate and unjust spoliation that 
the resentment of the friends of Common Schools was 
aroused in opposition to the legislative policy. 

“ By the indefatigable efforts of Rev. Robert. J. 
Breckinridge, D. D., LL.'D., then Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, an act was passed, in 1847-8, direct- 


8 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

ing the Governor to issue a new bond for all arrears of 
interest due, and also providing for the submission of a 
proposition to a vote of the people to levy a tax of two 
cents on the one hundred dollars, to increase the reve¬ 
nues for Common School purposes. Both objects were 
realized. The people ratified the proposition for an ad 
valorem tax of two cents by a majority of 36,882 votes. 

“Beginning in the fall of 1849, the Convention for 
framing a new Constitution for the State of Kentucky 
was held. Fortunately, owing to the able and eloquent 
advocacy of Messrs. Larkin J. Proctor, John D. Tay¬ 
lor, William K. Bowling, Ira Root, Thos. J. Hood, 
and Charles A. Wickliffe, members of the Conven¬ 
tion, the school funds for which the State had executed 
her bonds to the State Board of Education were forever 
dedicated to Common School purposes in the terms of 
the eleventh article, together with all other funds which 
may be hereafter raised for said purposes. 

“One of the fiercest and most spirited contests of 
the day, however, was sprung between Governor John 
L. Helm and Superintendent Rev. Dr. Breckinridge, 
during the session of 1850-T, over the question as to 
‘whether or not the Common School Fund should be 
considered a part of the regular State debt, the interest of 
which was payable out of the Sinking Fund. * The ques¬ 
tion was of the more importance because of the yet em¬ 
barrassed condition of the State finances. If the interest 
on the school bonds should be decided not payable out 
of the Sinking Fund, it became necessary to increase the 
taxes by a special levy to meet this annual liability of 
nearly $80,000, which would probably make the Com¬ 
mon School System unpopular. The point was hotly 
discussed and ably championed on either side by the 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


9 


distinguished heads of the two departments. The Leg¬ 
islature took up the issue, and a large portion of their 
time was occupied during the winter with the discussion 
of it. Finally, Senator Magoffin (since Governor) in¬ 
troduced a bill directing the Commissioners of the Sink¬ 
ing Fund to pay out of said Fund the interest due from 
year to year on the School Fund bonds, which was 
passed, but vetoed by the Governor. The question re¬ 
curring on its passage, the objections of the Governor 
to the contrary notwithstanding, it became a law by a 
vote of 28 to 6 in the Senate, and 64 to 26 in the House 
—to the great honor of the two bodies. 

“Excepting that, in 1855, the people, by a majority 
°f 57,980 votes out of a total of 109,492 votes cast, rat¬ 
ified a proposition to increase the ad valorem tax from 
two to five cents, but little organic change was made in 
the School System until after the close of our recent 
civil war. It was well administered, in the hands of able 
and faithful Superintendents, and steadily progressed, 
with natural life and growth, until the restoration of 
peace and comparative order in our Commonwealth 
seemed to justify an attempt at a general reform and 
increase of financial endowment.” 

In September, 1867, Z. F. Smith succeeded to the 
Superintendency. His programme of reconstruction 
was set forth in a document which accompanied Gov. 
Stevenson’s message to the General Assembly, and 
which was presented on the convening of that body in 
December, 1867. Mr. Smith advocated the immediate 
increase of the ad valorem tax for school purposes from 
five to twenty cents on the one hundred dollars’ worth of 
property, the addition of a poll tax of one or two dollars, 
and the privilege given in the law to the people of any 


IO 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


county, district, town, or city, to vote an additional ad 
valorem local tax of thirty cents to build, repair, or fur¬ 
nish the school-house, pay increased wages to better 
qualified teachers, or to extend the time beyond the 
limits prescribed by the law. He insisted upon a recon¬ 
struction of the School System, the improvement of 
school-houses, the institution of a Normal School, en¬ 
forced uniformity of text-books, etc. 

Early in the session of 1867-’8 he prepared -and pre¬ 
sented a bill embracing his plan. The bill submitting 
the question of increased taxation became a law, and 
the people voted on it at the succeeding election. The 
proposition to increase the tax was carried by a majority 
of 24,667 votes. Mr. Smith, the succeeding winter, 
presented the Legislature with a bill. This bill was 
greatly modified by the committee ; but the law enacted 
was a great improvement, and resulted in giving a fresh 
impetus to the cause of Common Schools. 

In September, 1871, H, A. M. Henderson entered 
upon his duties as Superintendent. Under his admin¬ 
istration much attention has been given to the organiza¬ 
tion of Teachers’ Institutes, the perfecting of statistical 
blanks, and the remodeling of the laws to meet the 
wants of the State. 

December 1st, 1873, with the General Statutes, went 
into effect the present school laws, which are far in ad¬ 
vance of any hitherto secured, and under whose benign 
influence the School System is destined to make rapid 
strides toward that goal so long coveted by every ardent 
friend of popular education. The measures of the pres¬ 
ent administration are of too recent date to be made 
the subject, in detail, of historical text, did not official 
modesty forbid the task of the incumbent becoming his 


HISTORICAL SKETCH. 


II 


own annalist. Experience alone will test the value of 
his labors before the Legislature, the Institutes, and the 
general public, and to the honest, impartial judgment of 
a future chronicler he submits his acts and programme 
for that faithful criticism which only time will fit his his¬ 
torian to exercise. 

SUCCESSION OF THE SUPERINTENDENTS OF KENTUCKY. 

Joseph J. Bullock, D. D., - - from 1837 to 1839 

Hubbard H. Kavanaugh, D. D., from 1839 to ^40 
Benjamin B. Smith, D. D., - - from 1840 to 1842 

George W. Brush, - - - from 1842 to 1843 

Ryland T. Dillard, D. D., - from 1843 to 1847 

R. J. Breckinridge, D. D., LL. D., from 1847 to 1853 
John D. Mathews, D. D., - from 1853 to 1859 

Robert Richardson, A. M., - from 1859 to 1863 

Daniel Stevenson, D. D., - from 1863 to 1867 

Zach. F. Smith, - from 1867 to 1871 

Howard A. M. Henderson, D. D., LL. D. 1871 to 1875 
Howard A. M. Henderson, D. D., LL. D. 1875 to 1879 
On March 1, 1842, B. B. Sayre, A. M., was ap¬ 
pointed to fill a vacancy, but soon declined; and on 
April 26, 1842, Rob’t Davidson, D. D., was appointed, 
but declined on May 15, 1842. 


1 


3 


KENTUCKY COMMON SCHOOL LAWS, 


CHAPTER 18. 

COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Art. i. School Fund. 

“ 2. District Taxation and Graded Schools. 

“ 3. Board of Education. 

‘ * 4. Superintendent. 

“ 5. County Commissioner. 

“ 6. Districts. 

“ 7. Trustees. 

“ 8. Teachers. 

“ 9. Teachers’ Institute. 

* * 10. District Library. 

** 11. Common School Defined. Fines and Amercements. 

Article I .—School Fund. 

g 1. There shall be throughout the State of Kentucky a uniform 
system of Common Schools, according to the Constitution of the 
State and the provisions of this act; and all laws now existing, con¬ 
flicting with this act, are hereby repealed. 

Article XI.— Constitution. 

CONCERNING EDUCATION. 

Sec. 1. The capital of the fund called and known as the “Com¬ 
mon School Fund,” consisting of one million two hundred and twen¬ 
ty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight dollars and forty-two 
cents, for which bonds have been executed by the State to the Board 
of Education, and seventy-three thousand five hundred dollars of 
stock in the Bank of Kentucky; also the sum of fifty-one thousand 
two hundred and twenty-three dollars and twenty-nine cents, balance 
of interest on the School Fund for the year 1848, unexpended, together 
with any sum which may be hereafter raised in the State, by taxation 
or otherwise, for purposes of education, shall be held inviolate, for 
the purpose of sustaining a system of Common Schools. The inter¬ 
est and dividends of said funds, together with any sum which may be 
produced for that purpose, by taxation or otherwise, may be appro¬ 
priated in aid of Common Schools, but for no other purpose. The 





COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


13 


General Assembly shall invest said fifty-one thousand two hundred 
and twenty-three dollars and twenty-nine cents in some safe and 
profitable manner; and any portion of the interest and dividends 
of said School Fund, or other money or property raised for school 
purposes, which may not be needed in sustaining Common Schools, 
shall be invested in like manner. The General Assembly shall make 
provision, by law, for the payment of the interest of said School 
Fund : Provided , That each county shall be entitled to its propor¬ 
tion of the income of said fund; and if not called for for Common 
School purposes, it shall be re-invested, from time to time, for the 
benefit of such county. 

Sec. 2. A Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be elected 
by the qualified voters of this Commonwealth, at the same time the 
Governor is elected, who shall hold his office for four years, and his 
duties and salary shall be prescribed and fixed by law. 

Remark. 

It is not in the power of the Legislature to abolish 
the School System. It would require the action of a 
Constitutional Convention. 

Decisions. 

1. The Court of Appeals has decided that no portion 
of the School Fund can be used for any other purpose 
than the payment of teachers, except what may be 
necessary for the official conduct of the system. This 
decision was made in the Collins’ History case, a sylla¬ 
bus of the text of which may be found under section 
1, article 10. 

2. The Court of Appeals has decided that no portion 
of the principal of the bond executed to the counties 
for unexpended surplus can be used. Only the inter¬ 
est can be constitutionally employed. See this decision 
under section 9, article 1. 

\ 2. The School Fund shall consist of the fund dedicated by the 
Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth for the purpose of sus¬ 
taining a system of Common Schools therein. 


14 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

§3. The bond for $1,327,000, issued January 1st, 1870, in aid of 
Common Schools, shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum 
per annum, payable on the 30th day of June and December of each 
year. The interest on said bond, the dividends on seven hundred 
and thirty-five shares of the stock of the Bank of Kentucky, the 
annual tax of twenty cents on each one hundred dollars in value of 
the property of the State, heretofore imposed by law, and all fines 
and forfeitures set apart by existing laws, in aid of Common Schools, 
shall constitute the annual revenue of the Common School Fund, 
and shall be paid into the Treasury; but shall never be drawn out, or 
appropriated otherwise than in pursuance of this chapter, in aid of 
Common Schools. 

Remarks. 

The bonds of the State of Kentucky held by the 
Board of Education are a clear and legal charge upon 
the Sinking Fund; and the regular payment of the 
interest on those bonds is a plain duty of the Sinking 
Fund Commissioners. By an act approved February 
23, 1837, $1,000,000 (afterwards reduced to $850,000) 
of the surplus revenue deposited with this State by the 
Federal Government was set apart, and forever dedi¬ 
cated, to founding a general system of public instruc¬ 
tion. By the act approved February 23, 1838, the 
interest upon $850,000 of the fund set apart by the 
Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, under the provis¬ 
ions of the act approved February 23, 1837, was forever 
dedicated and set apart to the purposes of education; 
and the act established in detail a Common School 
system. The sums above $850,000 arise from excess 
of interest paid by the Sinking Fund to the Board of 
Education over expenses, and invested under the act 
approved February 23, 1837. The stock in the Bank 
of Kentucky was purchased in 1839 by the Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction. In 1852 the School 
Fund consisted—1. Of State bonds amounting to 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


*5 


^ 1 » 3 2 ^»770.o 1 . 2. Of 735 shares of the capital stock 
of the Bank of Kentucky. 3. Of the proceeds of a 
general tax of two cents on every $100 worth of taxa¬ 
ble property of the State. 4. Of a tax of fifty cents 
on every $100 of the capital stock of the Farmers’ Bank 
of Kentucky. The two cents tax was imposed by a 
vote of 74,628 in favor to 37,476 against it, and was 
levied by an act approved February 26, 1849. The 
entire taxable value of the property of the State for 
the year 1852 was $333,13C5 12, yielding a yearly 
income of $66,626.30 to the School Fund from that 
source. The net income of the entire School Fund for 
1852 was $133,680. The year the tax was first levied 
(1849), the value of the taxable property of the State 
was $285,085,378, which increased in three years nearly 
eighteen per cent., or $48,045,934. In 1852, 215,195 
pupil children were reported, and the ratio of distribu¬ 
tion was sixty cents per child. By an act approved 
March 7, 1854, the levying of an additional three cents 
tax on each $100 worth of property was submitted to a 
vote of the people on the 1st Monday in August, 1854, 
which was amended March 10, 1854, by substituting 
the annual election of 1855 as the time for taking the 
vote. The vote resulted in the State putting the im¬ 
primatur of her sovereignty upon popular education, 
82,765 votes having been cast for increased taxation, 
and 25,239 against it—giving a majority in favor of it 
of 57,526. 

By an act, approved January 22, 1869, the proposi¬ 
tion was submitted to the people at the ensuing August 
election, to vote an additional tax of fifteen cents on 
the one hundred dollars of taxable property, for the 
benefit of Common Schools. 


1 6 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

The result was, that the proposition was ratified by a 
majority of 24,677 votes in the State, and this at a time 
when there was a popular apprehension that there would 
be Congressional interference with our School System. 
In time of ordinary public tranquility, it is fair to pre¬ 
sume this majority would have reached 50,000. 

§ 4. Hereafter, except as otherwise expressly provided in this chap¬ 
ter, no part of the Common School Fund, or of the revenue thereof, 
shall be used for any other purpose than the payment of teachers 
of Common Schools, legally qualified and employed, in pursuance 
hereof. 

Remark. 

By a legally qualified teacher is meant one having 
the certificate or license prescribed by law. By being 
“legally employed” is meant by a Trustee legally qual¬ 
ified to contract for the teaching of the District School. 
In the Collins’ History case it was decided that the use 
of the School Fund for the purchase of that book would 
be violative of the Constitution, and the act authorizing 
the purchase was, therefore, pronounced unconstitu¬ 
tional. 

§ 5. The Auditor shall keep the accounts in relation to this fund. 
He shall, once in each month, make a transfer to the credit of said 
fund of all receipts into the Treasury for the benefit of the Common 
Schools, up to the date of such transfer. He shall allow no expend¬ 
itures on that account beyond the annual revenue of the fund, and 
shall see that no county draws more than its proper proportion. 

Remark. 

The Superintendent of Public Instruction has not the 
handling of the School Fund. All accounts of receipts 
and expenditures are kept by the Auditor. The Aud¬ 
itor annually furnishes the Superintendent with a state¬ 
ment of the probable amount of funds that will be at 
his disposal for the ensuing school year; and upon this 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 1 7 

estimate, in figures, he makes his apportionment and 
keeps his books. 

§ 6. The net revenue of the fund accruing during each school year, 
after the payment of whatever expenses may be incurred according 
to law by the Board of Education, or by special acts of legislation, 
shall constitute the sum to be distributed. But no fees to county 
judges or clerks, discount on checks, or other incidental expenses, 
shall be paid out of the distributable share of the revenue appor¬ 
tioned to any county; but such payment shall be made out of the 
county levy. 

Remarks. 

1. The net revenue to be distributed is ascertained 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction deducting 
from the gross amount the expenses incident to his 
office and the salary of the County Commissioners. 
Having made the subtraction of this expense account, 
he divides the amount remaining by the number of 
pupil children reported in the census of the year, and 
the quotient is the per capita. It will be seen by the 
intelligent reader that it is not in the power of the 
Superintendent to change the result, as it is purely 
mathematical. 

2 . It is the duty of the Court of Claims of each 
county to allow, out of the county levy, all fees to 
county judges or clerks, and all discount on checks. 
Commissioners will be careful not to include in their 
accounts for services any incidental expenses, but must 
obtain reimbursement by application to the Court of 
Claims. 

I 7. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, on or before 
the first day of August in each year, ascertain and estimate, as near 
as may be, the net revenue that will accrue from all sources during 
the school year, the pro rata share thereof each white child will be 
entitled to according to the whole number of white children between 
2 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


18 

the ages of six and twenty years in the State, and the proportion 
thereof each county and each district will be entitled to according 
to the whole number of such children residing in each county and 
district respectively, as shown by the returns of the County Commis¬ 
sioner. If, at the time of making such estimate and apportionment, 
the tax-book or census returns of the Commissioner for any county 
has not been made to him, he shall use the returns made and tax- 
book for the previous year. It shall be the duty of the Superin¬ 
tendent, on or before the first day of August, to file a copy of said 
estimate and apportionment with the Auditor of Public Accounts, 
and to inform each County Commissioner of the amount each dis¬ 
trict of each county will be entitled to. It shall be the duty of the 
Auditor to furnish to the Superintendent such facts and statements 
as may be needed in making the estimate and apportionment. What¬ 
ever difference may exist between the actual and estimated revenue 
of the School Fund for any school year, shall be taken into the 
account of the estimate and apportionment for the succeeding school 
year. 

Remark. 

The Superintendent is totally dependent upon the 
Auditor for “facts and statements” needed in making 
the estimate and apportionment. Owing to the pecu¬ 
liar character of our tax system, and the lack of har¬ 
mony between the revenue and school laws, the Auditor 
is compelled to make his estimate upon a hypothesis, 
and therefore may exceed or fall below the amount 
given the Superintendent. When an officer is com¬ 
pelled to guess, he cannot always be expected to be 
accurate, unless it be assumed that he must be infalli¬ 
ble. The law provides for the contingency of an over¬ 
estimate. If the Auditor hypothecates too much one 
year, the amount over-estimated must be taken from 
the revenue of the succeeding year. It was an over¬ 
estimate of resources that occasioned the reduction of 
the school per capita in a single year from $2.20 to 
$1.60. The mode of making the apportionment is as 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


*9 


follows: The Auditor, in July, furnishes the Superin¬ 
tendent with “a statement of moneys which may be 
expected to be paid into the Treasury during the year 
ending June 30th, 187-, subject to the order of the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction.” The Superin¬ 
tendent takes the gross sum and deducts from it the 
following amounts: 1. Commissioners’ salaries, one 
hundred dollars for each county — one hundred and 
sixteen counties. 2. Three dollars for each school 
district reported in each county, to be paid the Commis¬ 
sioner. 3. One per cent, upon the amount of money 
to be disbursed by each Commissioner. After this sub¬ 
traction has been made, he takes the remainder as the 
net sum to be distributed, and divides it by the number 
of pupil children reported in the census, and the quo¬ 
tient is the pro rata. It will be seen by this how unjust 
it is to visit blame upon the Superintendent when the 
per caput falls below public expectation. No man can 
change the complexion of figures; and it is with an 
exact science the Superintendent has to deal when he 
makes his apportionment. 

§ 8 If, on or before the first day of January, after the termination 
of each school year, the proportion of the revenue of that year pre¬ 
viously apportioned to any district be not called for for Common 
School purposes, the same shall remain in the Treasury to the credit 
of the county in which such district is situated, to be distributed 
next year for the benefit of said county. A detailed statement of 
the surplus amount to which each county is entitled shall be filed 
in the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

2 9. The bonded surplus of the several counties shall remain in 
the State Treasury to the credit of each county to which it is respect¬ 
ively due, and shall be expended only for the purpose of extending 
the time and improving the character of the Common Schools; and 
such fund shall only be used upon the order of the Court of Claims, 
and in such cases the Commissioner shall pay it over to the Trustee 


i 


20 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


of the district entitled to receive the same: Provided, That none of 
the surplus shall be drawn until after November ist, 1873. The 
bonded funds in the State Treasury to the credit of the counties 
shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum. 

Decisions. 

1. The question of the constitutionality of this sec¬ 
tion was submitted to Attorney General Rodman by 
the Superintendent, and he gave it as his opinion that 
“the General Assembly has no power to dispose of the 
surplus by permitting Trustees or Courts of Claims, in 
the various counties that are the beneficiaries of the 
fund, to draw the principal out of the Treasury. The 
State has become the trustee' for the counties: it must 
secure and make provision for the interest. The principal 
it cannot touch without a violation of the Constitution.” 
For the entire text of this opinion, see the Superintend¬ 
ent’s Report for 1874, pages 20, 21, and 22. 

2. Under this opinion and that, concurrent, of the 
Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, the Auditor refused 
to pay demands made under this law, which resulted in 
a legal contest between W. A. Holland, Commissioner 
of Ballard county, and Col. D. Howard Smith, Aud¬ 
itor; but an appeal was taken to the Court of Appeals, 
which rendered a decision sustaining the defendant. A 
special act had been passed for the benefit of several 
counties, involving the same principle as that incorpo¬ 
rated into the General Statutes. The full text of this 
decision is as follows: 

THE AUDITOR J 

vs. > Appeal from Franklin Circuit Court. 

W A. HOLLAND, Commissioner, &c. J 

Judge Cofer delivered the opinion of the Court as follows : 

The sole question presented by this record is, whether an act, enti¬ 
tled “ An act for the benefit of Common Schools in Marshall, Liv¬ 
ingston, and McCracken counties,” approved February 23d, 1874. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


21 


(Acts i873~’4, page 483), is constitutional or not. The act is in these 
words: 

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky , That the Common School Commissioners of Marshall, Liv¬ 
ingston, and McCracken counties shall each be, and he is hereby, 
authorized and empowered to draw from the State Treasury the 
amount and bonded surplus of School Fund in the State Treasury 
to the credit of his county, upon being directed so to do by order of 
his county court; but before such order shall be made by court, the 
Commissioner shall execute covenant to the Commonwealth, with 
surety worth at least double the amount to be drawn, that he will 
safely keep, invest, or pay out, or otherwise dispose of said fund for 
Common School purposes in his county, as the Court of Claims for his 
county may order; which covenant shall be executed in and approved 
by the county court, and filed in the clerk’s office of said court; and 
for any breach of the bond the county court, or any person or persons 
aggrieved, may maintain an action thereon. 

“ g 2. Upon the written order of the Commissioner, accompanied 
Dy a copy of the order of his county court directing him to draw said 
fund, it shall be the duty of the Auditor to draw his warrant upon 
the Treasurer for the full amount of such surplus due or belonging to 
the county of the Commissioner so ordering the same. 

3. This act shall take effect from its passage.” 

The bonded surplus of the School Fund in the State Treasury to 
the credit of Marshall, Livingston, and McCracken counties,” to 
which reference is made in the above act, arose in this wise : Since 
the adoption of the present Constitution, the law has made it the 
duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion each 
year the interest and dividends upon the School Fund, and the pro¬ 
ceeds of taxes levied for educational purposes, among the whole 
number of children in the State within the school ages as fixed by 
law, and to place to the credit of each county a sum bearing the same 
proportion to the whole fund to be distributed that the number of 
school children in such county bore to the whole number of such 
children in the State. This was done in obedience to the proviso to 
section 1 of article n of the Constitution, which provides, among 
other things, “ that each county shall be entitled to its proportion of 
the income” of the School Fund. 

The amount belonging to each county having thus been ascertained, 
it came under the provisions of another clause of the same proviso, 
which requires that if any part of the fund to which any county is 


22 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


entitled is “ not called for for Common School purposes, it shall be 
reinvested, from time to time, for the benefit of such county.” 

The effect of these two provisions is to require the distribution 
among the counties to be made according to the number of school 
children in each ; but the counties are only entitled to draw out of 
the Treasury that portion of the fund apportioned to them which is 
due to districts in which schools have been kept according to law; 
and that portion due to such districts as have not caused schools to 
be taught cannot be called for, and is required to be reinvested for 
the benefit of the county. In nearly all the counties a greater or less 
number of districts failed each year to have schools taught, and the 
money due to such district, being on that account uncalled for, re¬ 
mained to the credit of the counties respectively ; and, in obedience 
to the direction of the Constitution to reinvest the money not called 
for, for the benefit of the county entitled to it, the Legislature made 
it the duty of the Board of Education to transfer the amount to the 
Sinking Fund, and required the Governor to execute the bond of the 
State, bearing interest at six per cent., for the aggregate amount thus 
transferred, payable to the Board of Education, and specifying the 
amount belonging to each county. 

The annual interest on the bonded surplus of each county has been 
paid, and each year added to the share apportioned to such county 
and distributed with it; but the amount reinvested as belonging to 
the several counties has been always treated as principal, and has 
never been encroached upon, except to pay for schools which had 
been taught according to law, but for some cause were not properly 
reported before the surplus was reinvested, and then only to the 
extent to which, but for the failure of some of the Common School 
officers properly to report, would have been called for before the 
reinvestment was made. 

The fund thus created, and reinvested as belonging to Marshall, 
Livingston, and McCracken counties, is the fund now sought to be 
withdrawn. 

It arose out of the income from the Common School Fund, and 
from taxes levied for educational purposes, and the power of the 
Legislature over it is limited in the same way and to the same 
extent, at least, to which its power over the income from the prin¬ 
cipal of the School Fund and the proceeds of taxes levied for school 
purposes is limited; and it may be that it has, by reinvestment, 
become an inviolate fund, only the interest or income from which 
can be authorized to be withdrawn and used; but whether it has 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


23 

become capital and passed'beyond the control of the Legislature, 
except for reinvestment and preservation, for the benefit of the 
counties respectively, it is not necessary now to decide. 

The Constitution provides that the original School Fund, together 
with any sum which has or may be raised, “by taxation or otherwise , 
for purposes of education, shall be held inviolate, for the purpose of 
sustaining a system of Common Schools. The interest and dividends 
of said funds, together with any sum which may be produced for 
that purpose by taxation or otherwise , may be appropriated in aid of 
Common Schools, but for no other purpose.” ( Section 1, article 11, 
Constitution.') 

In Halbert vs. Sparks , 9 Bush, 259, this court said: “The General 
Assembly has the undoubted power to pass laws regulating the 
manner in which the Common School Fund shall be devoted to the 
purposes for which it has been set apart; but these laws, as far as 
practicable, should be general in their application. Special legisla¬ 
tion, which does not come in aid of the general system, or to relieve 
against hardships growing out of its provisions, or the neglect or 
default of the officers by whom it is administered, and especially 
svrch as interferes with those officers in the discharge of their duties, 
or takes from them the right to control the funds set apart to the 
counties and districts for which they are acting, is calculated to 
destroy the system of Common Schools, which' the Constitution 
declares shall be maintained.” 

The act in question is a special act, and does not come in aid of 
the general system, or to relieve against its hardships or the neglect 
or default of the officers by whom it is administered. So far from 
being in aid of the general system, it is subversive of it. It does 
not require the county courts to apply the fund in aid of Common 
Schools, or to invest it for the benefit of such schools. 

No direction whatever is given as to the time or manner of dis¬ 
posing of the fund. The School Commissioners are required to 
execute covenants that they will each “ safely keep, invest, or pay out, 
or othenvise dispose of, said fund for Common School purposes in his 
county, as the Court of Claims for his county may order. ” 

What is to be done with the fund until ordered by the county 
court to be invested, or paid out, or otherwise disposed of, for Com¬ 
mon School purposes, the act does not provide; but the Constitution 
requires it to be reinvested. 

How the fund is to be used when the Court of Claims shall direct 
it to be paid out for school purposes, the act fails to provide, while 


24 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


the Constitution provides that it shall only be used in aid of Common 
Schools; which means, as decided in Halbert vs. Sparks , a general 
system of Common Schools. 

That the system of Common Schools provided for by the Constitu¬ 
tion was intended to be general, governed and aided in all parts of 
the State in the same way and to the same extent, does not admit of 
doubt. Not only was the system intended to be general and uniform, 
but it was intended to be controlled by the Legislature. The act in 
question, even if it could be construed to require the county courts 
to apply the fund directed to be paid to their School Commission¬ 
ers in aid of Common Schools in their respective counties, does not 
require that it should be distributed ratably among the several dis¬ 
tricts, and there is nothing in the act to prevent the whole from 
being turned over to a single district. 

But it cannot be construed to make it the duty of the courts ever 
to order the fund to be used for school purposes, or to prevent them 
from ordering it to be invested in bank or rail stock, or from requiring 
it to be loaned to the county court, to be used for ordinary purposes. 

The General Assembly has no power thus to abdicate its control 
over the fund, and abandon to the county courts, to be performed or 
not at their pleasure, the duty and power which the Constitution has 
imposed upon, and invested alone in, the Legislature. 

If this act be constitutional, the aggregate sum of $301,123.08, for 
which the Board of Education now holds the bond of the State for 
surplus not called for for school purposes, will pass, under section 9, 
article 1, chapter 18, of the General Statutes, which contains similar 
provisions, into the hands of the several county courts in the State ; 
and, instead of having one general system of Common Schools, 
governed by general laws, and under the control of the officers of 
the Common Schools, there may be as many systems as there are 
counties, or the fund devoted by the Constitution to the support of 
Common Schools may be applied or not as may suit the will or the 
convenience of the several county courts. 

Another feature of the act which is worthy of notice is, that it as¬ 
sumes, contrary to the fact, that the bonded surplus is in the Treas¬ 
ury, when it is in the Sinking Fund ; and as the Commissioners of 
that fund are not required to pay it, it must be paid, if at all, out of 
the revenue proper, which the act shows was not intended. 

For the reasons indicated, we are of the opinion that the Auditor 
properly refused to issue his warrant, and that the court erred in over¬ 
ruling his demurrer to the appellees’ petition. The judgment is 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 2 $ 

therefore reversed, and the cause is remanded, with directions to sus¬ 
tain the demurrer and dismiss the petition. 

Remarks. 

1. It is now settled that no part of the principal of the 
county surplus bonds-can ever be alienated by legislative 
enactment; that they constitute a permanent fund, only 
the interest arising from which can be used. It has been 
the custom for twenty years for the General Assembly 
to employ this fund to indemnify Trustees’ and Commis¬ 
sioners’ errors in reporting the census. Every session, 
what has been known as the “Omnibus bill,” appropri¬ 
ated various sums to relieve delinquent and mistaken 
school officers of the penalties of neglect or error. 
There is now no fund known to the Superintendent that 
can be used for this purpose, and every one who com¬ 
mits a blunder must make up his mind to stand the con¬ 
sequences. 

2. The Legislature, however, at the last session, in a 
number of cases, applied the interest accruing on these 
bonds to the indemnifying of such errors. Commission¬ 
ers, however, should not rely on this, as it is exceed¬ 
ingly questionable whether a sum due the whole county 
can be appropriated to a particular district in which a 
census error has occurred. Besides, the bond of many 
of the counties is so inconsiderable that the interest is 
inadequate to the liquidation of claims to any consider¬ 
able amount. This bond now aggregates $339,725.48, 
and must continue to annually increase until, in the 
course of time, it will reach and transcend in amount 
the general endowment by the State. The county hav¬ 
ing the largest amount of bonded surplus is Christian— 

3 


2 6 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

$14,678.78. For a detailed statement of the interest of 
the several counties in this bond, see the Superintend¬ 
ent’s Annual Report. It is this interest on bond which 
makes an irregular pro rata in every county. 

3. Superintendent Smith, in his Report for 1871, with 
reference to the precedent then being followed of using 
the principal of this bond to rectify mistakes of Trus¬ 
tees and Commissioners, says: “It has been a temp¬ 
tation to negligence, and a sort of common relief to 
delinquent school officers ever since it was created. 
They have come to know, that, if they neglect the 
school in their district, the next Legislature will enroll 
them in an ‘Omnibus bill,’ and order them paid any 
way out of the surplus due their counties. I would 
advise that the next Legislature of 1871-2 place this 
bonded surplus at the disposal of the several counties 
to which it is respectively due. ” 

Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction for the term immediately succeeding 
the adoption of the new Constitution, thus expresses 
himself with reference to this fund: ‘ ‘ The first provis¬ 
ion of the Constitution establishes the general principle 
that only the income of the School Fund shall be dis¬ 
tributed ; the second provision requires the reinvestment, 
for the general fund, of such portions of that income as 
are not needed for Common School purposes. To these 
two provisions is attached the third one, by way of 
limitation, in a proviso, that each county shall have its 
proportion of the income; and now, by way of alterna¬ 
tive to that limitation, it is provided, in the fourth place, 
that, after the proportion of a county is once ascer¬ 
tained, that county shall have a vested right in it; and 
this ascertained sum shall not be reinvested for the 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


2 7 


general benefit of the whole fund, but for the particu¬ 
lar benefit of the particular county. This I take to be 
the sense of this clause—>a sense clear in itself, perfectly 
consistent with all the rest, and also with the particular 
mode of stating the provisions and defining the several 
interests distinguished in the latter part of the nth 
article of the Constitution.” 

4. The opinion of the court renders nugatory section 
22 of article 7. 

§ 10. Whenever a qualified teacher has been employed by the Trus¬ 
tee of any district to teach the length of time required to entitle 
such district to its proportion of the revenue, and a Common School, 
pursuant to this chapter, been regularly commenced in time to com¬ 
plete a session in full by the fif eenth day of February, the fifteenth 
of May, and the first day of July, or one half thereof by the tenth 
day of January, the fifteenth day of February, the fifteenth day of 
May, in any year, such district or districts shall then, for the purpose 
of paying the teachers, be entitled to its or their proportion of the 
School Fund for that year, as previously estimated : Provided, That 
when a school shall have been kept for one half of the session only, 
such district shall only be entitled to forty per centum of its propor¬ 
tion of the revenue for that year, and at the expiration of the session 
to the residue. 

Remarks. 

I. A teacher must have a certificate (or license) from 
the County or State Board of Examiners to qualify him 
to teach a Common School. A teacher’s certificate must 
be obtained prior to teaching the school. No money 
can be drawn for a school unless it has been taught by a 
“qualified teacher”—by which is meant one that has a 
certificate. The reason is obvious. The purpose of re¬ 
quiring a certificate is to be assured of the qualifications 
of the teacher in advance. He is not to practice on his 
pupils—keep one day ahead of his classes, and thus by 
going to school to himself fit himself to stand the ordeal 


4 


28 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


of an examination, which he could not have stood at 
the beginning. Such a procedure is a fraud upon the 
district. 

2. The length of time required for a school to be 
taught is as follows: in a district containing forty or 
more pupils, a five months’ school is a legal term. In a 
district containing less than forty pupils, a three months’ 
school is a legal term. A school month is twenty-two 
days of actual teaching, less the legal holidays, and the 
time the teacher is attending the Institute, which must 
be deducted if the school was in session. 

3. On the tenth day of January only forty per centum 
can be paid, even though the school be taught entirely 
out. Were the taxes required by statute to be paid 
into the Treasury by the 1st day of January, as recom¬ 
mended by the Governor and Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, the teachers could be paid as the terms of 
their schools expire. As it is, the sheriffs are allowed 
until the 1st of April to collect and pay the taxes. The 
money is not in the Treasury, therefore, to meet full 
payments on the 10th of January; but enough is gener¬ 
ally paid in to meet forty per centum of the claims. 
Until the revenue and school laws are made to synchro¬ 
nize, there will always be danger of delay in meeting 
matured school claims. There is wide-prevailing error 
that the schools are paid out of funds banked up in the 
Treasury from the collection of the taxes of the preced¬ 
ing year. The fact is, the schools are being taught 
while the taxes are being collected to furnish the fund 
that pays the teachers. 

§ 11. The judges of the county courts in each county are author¬ 
ized to examine and audit the accounts for services rendered by the 
Commissioners of Common Schools in their respective counties; and 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


29 

for this purpose they shall, between the first and twentieth days of 
January, and the first and twentieth days of July, in each year, hear 
proof and audit and settle the accounts of the Commissioners of their 
respective counties for services rendered by them for the six months 
next preceding such settlement; and the amount ascertained to be 
due to said Commissioners shall be certified by the judge to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction ; and if approved by him, he 
shall certify the same to the Auditor of Public Accounts, who shall 
draw his warrant for the amount thereof on the Treasurer in payment 
of the same: Provided , That the allowances made by the county 
judges under this act, to be paid out of the School Fund, shall not 
exceed in amount the allowances provided for in section 12, article 1. 

Remark. 

This audit includes amounts received on Treasurer’s 
checks and a detailed statement of the amount paid 
each teacher. The account for personal services, to be 
reported to the Superintendent, embraces three items: 
I. Salary, one hundred dollars. Fifty dollars is paid 
in January and fifty dollars in July. Hereafter only 
semi-annual payments can be made on Commissioner’s 
salary. County judges will be careful only to audit for 
half the year. 2. Three dollars for each district whose 
census has been reported. 3. One per cent, on the 
money disbursed. This does not include the Commis¬ 
sioner’s pay, but the sum of money actually paid the 
districts. The county judge, upon a separate account 
to be paid by the Court of Claims out of county levy, 
should allow the Commissioners for discount on checks 
and express charges. In some counties allowances are 
made for stationery and postage. In no instance is an 
account for “incidental expenses” to be sent to the 
Superintendent. 

When there is a change of Commissioners, the judge 
must determine the pay to which the old and new officer 
is respectively entitled. (See article 1, section 13.) 


30 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


§ 12. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, when the distrib¬ 
utable share due to each county is ascertained, as provided for in 
section seven, article one, of said act, before making a pro rata dis¬ 
tribution of said fund to the districts, shall, out of the fund ascer¬ 
tained to be due any given county, deduct the sum of one hundred 
dollars, and one per cent, on the whole amount due said county, as 
well as three dollars for each school district reported by the County 
Commissioner, according to section seven, article four, of said law. 
The fund thus created shall be denominated the County Commis¬ 
sioner’s Fund, and shall remain in the Treasury to the credit of the 
respective counties, subject to the certificates of allowances made by 
the county judges to the Commissioners for services rendered, as 
provided for in section eleven of article one, Common School Law. 
Should any portion of the fund thus set apart to any county for the 
payment of the Commissioner therein remain in the Treasury on the 
first day of January next after the termination of the school year, 
the same shall be placed to the credit of said county, to be added to 
its distributable share in the revenues of the general fund at the next 
annual distribution. 

Remark. 

The fund apportioned to cities having a system of 
Graded Schools, and disbursed by officers of a School 
Board, is not subject to the deduction of the Commis¬ 
sioner’s one per cent. (See article 5, section 8.) 

§ 13. When there has been a change of Commissioners during the 
school year, the county judges shall allow and apportion between said 
Commissioners the compensation to which they may be entitled under 
this act, in proportion to the time they have respectively served, and 
amount of services rendered. 

Remark. 

The rule has been to allow upon the salary of one 
hundred dollars proportionately for the time the office 
was held by the respective Commissioners. The three 
dollars for each district is divided between the Commis¬ 
sioner who reported the census and the Commissioner 
who visits the schools. One per cent, is allowed for the 
money actually disbursed by each. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


31 


? 14. Whenever he shall be informed that any donation, gift, or 
devise of any real or personal estate, shall have been made to the 
Common School Fund of Kentucky, it shall be the duty of the Super¬ 
intendent to appoint some discreet person, who shall take charge of 
the real or personal estate so granted, devised, or donated, and sell 
and dispose of the same, and pay the proceeds into the Treasury of 
Kentucky. Before said agent so appointed by the Superintendent 
shall proceed to act, he shall give a bond, with good security, to the 
Commonwealth, for the faithful discharge of his duties as agent. 
Said bond shall be given in the county in which the donor, grantor, 
or devisor shall have died, or in the county in which the property is 
situated, the bond to be executed in, and approved by, the county 
court. The person so appointed shall make a settlement with the 
county court of his county once in each year, and shall pay into the 
Treasury the amount found in his hands after said settlement. The 
court shall allow said person a reasonable compensation for collecting 
and paying over said money, which amount said person shall retain in 
his hands out of the money collected. For any failure of the person 
so appointed to discharge the duties under this act, he and his securi¬ 
ties shall be liable to all damages sustained, and for all money col¬ 
lected, with twenty per cent, damages on the amount so collected, 
and which he has failed to pay over. The suit on the bond shall be 
in the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and shall be insti¬ 
tuted by the Commonwealth’s Attorney. The person appointed by 
the Superintendent shall have the same power, in collecting and set¬ 
tling the estate, as an administrator or executor now has by law ; may 
institute and defend all suits in reference to said estate ; sue and col¬ 
lect all notes, bonds, &c., and sell and convey the real estate by deed. 
The amount of money paid into the Treasury, under the provisions 
of this section, shall remain there until disposed of by law; and the 
Treasurer and his sureties shall be liable for the same on his official 
bond. This section shall apply to all gifts, donations, or devises 
heretofore or hereafter made to the School Fund of Kentucky: Pro¬ 
vided, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to cases 
where the terms or conditions of the devises, gifts, or donations con¬ 
flict with said provisions; but in such cases the terms or conditions 
of the devise, grant, or donation shall be carried out as intended by 
the person making the same. 


32 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Article II.— District Taxation and Graded Schools . 

§ i. In any Common School district in the State, in which the 
clearly ascertained will of the people shall be in favor of a district 
tax in aid of the Common School therein, the levying of such a tax 
therein shall be lawful. 

Remarks. 

District taxation is a new feature in the Common 
School laws of Kentucky, and was introduced to sub¬ 
stitute the rate feature. The rate amendment was 
approved March 13, 1871, and read as follows:- “When¬ 
ever the pro rata share of the School Fund for any dis¬ 
trict shall be insufficient to employ a competent teacher 
to teach a full session, the Trustees are authorized to 
apportion the deficit among the patrons of the school in 
proportion to the number of children and length of time 
actually sent by each; and the sum thus apportioned to 
any parent or guardian shall be collectable in the same 
manner as subscriptions are now collected by law.” 

Mr. Smith, in his annual report for 1871, clearly stated 
the objections to this amendment, as follows: 

“I consider the rate-bill system very objectionable 
and impolitic, as I understand it, and should not rec¬ 
ommend it as a measure of State polity of public edu¬ 
cation— 

“ 1st. Because it carries the burden of taxation right 
back and places it on the shoulders of the very class for 
whose relief and benefit the State undertakes to educate 
her chMdren—the poor, who have plenty of children and 
mo money. If this class were able to bear such burden, 
we would have but little need of State aid to educate 
the masses. But because they are not able, the rate-bill 
policy must be injurious and oppressive. 

“2d. Because there must be many instances of fami¬ 
lies where parents are too poor to pay tuition fees extra, 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


33 


whose children would be cut off from the privileges of 
education entirely. It would seem a mockery, as well 
as a great injustice, to tax the property of the State for 
the support of free schools, and then say to the ex¬ 
tremely poor, ‘you can have the benefit of this tax 
revenue, provided you can do what you are not able 
to do, from your poverty! ’ 

“3d. I would rationally conclude that a rate-bill sys¬ 
tem would prevent many a child of poverty from receiv¬ 
ing the boon of education, and thus destroy the value 
and mar the beauty and philanthropy of the Common 
School policy of the State, founded on that wise and 
benevolent maxim of modern civilization, that ‘ the 
wealth and resources of the State should educate the 
children of the State.’ 

“You ask, ‘what, in your judgment, is the influence 
of making schools free, upon the number of scholars in 
attendance? upon the interest of parents? and of the 
public generally?’ 

“To make them free to all alike is to break down all 
discriminations and classifications, and the prejudices 
growing out of classification; to enhance popular inter¬ 
est, popular confidence, and popular enthusiasm; to 
make them a common interest for all, and thereby pro¬ 
mote unity of sentiment and action in a common cause 
in every community. For these reasons I believe that 
the good of children, parents, and the public generally, 
will be subserved by making the schools free to all alike.” 

Local taxation, when applied, accomplishes all that 
could be accomplished by a levy of rate upon the pa¬ 
trons, and in a much better way. A supplementary local 
tax to the public bonus is the most approved way of 
raising money to improve and extend the sessions of the 


34 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Common Schools. By a general and uniform ad valo¬ 
rem tax upon property a fund is easily raised, without 
the obnoxious discrimination of rate-bills, or the contin¬ 
gencies of subscriptions. The advantages of local taxa¬ 
tion over rate-laws may be thus fairly stated: 

1. It is in harmony with the fundamental principle of 
Common Schools, that all the property of a community 
or Commonwealth should be taxed to educate all the 
children thereof. 

2. It adjusts the pecuniary burdens of the system in 
the most equitable manner, and enables the poor to edu¬ 
cate their children at the minimum cost; and, surely, 
Common Schools have no higher mission or truer glory 
than that of bringing the blessed gospel of education 
and culture to the toiling masses. 

3. The stimulating effect of this feature of our sys¬ 
tem upon the number of scholars in attendance , need 
hardly be adverted to. Its influence in this respect is 
direct, constant, and powerful. It is as if every tax¬ 
payers^ paid a tuition fee or rate-bill in advance; and 
human nature must greatly change before such a fact 
will cease to be effective in urging those who have thus 
paid to seek for an equivalent in the benefits of the 
Schools. It sends tens of thousands to school , and keeps 
them there , who would never otherwise attend. 

4. The same consideration enhances and vitalizes the 
interest of parents, and of the public at large, in the 
schools, and thus promotes the welfare and prosperity 
of the schools themselves. Where almost every man 
in the community is obliged to bear a part in the costs 
of education, whether he has any children of his own to 
educate or not, the number of those who take no inter¬ 
est in the subject will be the smallest possible. The 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


35 


payment of a dollar in local school taxes will often take 
a man to a school meeting, and arouse him from his 
lethargy, when the logic and eloquence of a Horace 
Mann would have been in vain. 

5. This feature of our system simplifies and insures 
the collection of the needful funds, gives stability to the 
financial affairs of the schools, and enables the local 
officers to forecast the future, and know exactly what 
resources will be available from year to year. No new 
machinery is required; all school taxes, State and local, 
are collected by the same officers as the State revenues 
are collected, and the same proceedings and penalties 
attach to delinquents. This element of our present 
plan I deem of great value, exempting us from all the 
annoyances and contingencies incident to rate-bills. 

A school tax is a compensatory one. The average 
tax-payer saves in tuition all that he pays in taxes, and 
yet secures a margin for the education of the children of 
indigent parents in the district. It is by local taxation 
that the School Systems of the North have been worked 
up to their present efficiency. The State bonus is not 
intended as a sufficient sum for the purposes of the Com¬ 
mon School. It is intended to encourage local enter¬ 
prise. The State bonus of Kentucky, to the average 
Common School district, is twice that of Massachusetts, 
and several times as great as that of Pennsylvania. In 
many States the use of the public apportionment is con¬ 
tingent upon the district raising a given sum of money 
by private enterprise. The efficiency of the city sys¬ 
tems has grown out of the fact that the State apportion¬ 
ment is heavily supplemented by the levying of a local 
tax. In many districts in Kentucky five times as much 
money can be raised by local taxation under this article 


36 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


as is distributed to those districts under the present basis 
of apportionment. 

§ 2. The will of the people of any district, in relation to such a tax 
therein, shall be determined by a vote of the white qualified voters 
thereof, at the time and place, and in the manner prescribed in the 
first section of the seventh article of the Revised School Laws for the 
election of district Trustees; and any widow or alien residing in any 
school district, who is a tax-payer, or who has children within the 
ages fixed by the Common School Laws to be educated, shall be 
deemed a qualified voter under this act: Provided , That when a vote 
for such a tax shall be taken, votes shall be received from nine o’clock, 
A. M., till five o’clock, P. M. : And provided further That, previously 
to the taking of such a vote, notices signed by the Common School 
Commissioner of the county in which such district lies, and by the 
Trustee of such district, stating the amount and object of the tax 
proposed to be raised, and the time and place of taking the vote, 
shall have been posted by the Trustee for fifteen days, at three or 
more prominent places in the district: Provided further, When lines 
dividing school districts pass through the lands of any person, divid¬ 
ing the same, the taxes shall be levied and paid to that district where 
the homestead may be situated. 

Remarks. 

1. “White qualified voter” is one who has lived in 
the State two years, or in the county, town, or city in 
which he offers to vote one year next preceding the elec¬ 
tion, and who is a white male citizen of the age of 
twenty-one years; but such voter shall have been, for 
sixty days next preceding the election, a resident of the 
precinct (district) in which he offers to vote, and he shall 
vote in said precinct (district) and nowhere else. ( See 
Constitution, article 2, section 8.) 

2 . “The following rules shall be observed in deter¬ 
mining the residence of a person offering to vote: 

“ I. That shall be deemed his residence where his 
habitation is, and to which, when absent, he has the 
intention of returning. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


37 


“ 2 . He shall not lose his residence by absence for 
temporary purposes merely; nor shall he obtain a resi¬ 
dence by being in a county or precinct for such tem¬ 
porary purposes, without the intention of making the 
county or precinct his home. 

“3. By removal to another State or county, with in¬ 
tention to make his permanent residence there, he loses 
his former residence. 

“4. So, also, he loses his residence here by removal 
to and residence in another State, with intention to 
reside there an indefinite time, or by voting there, even 
though he may have had the intention to return here at 
some future period. 

*‘5. The place where the family of a married man 
resides shall, generally, be considered his residence, un¬ 
less the family so resides for a temporary purpose. If 
his family is permanently in one place, and he transacts 
his business in another, the former shall be his residence. 

“Sec. 9. If a person is objected to as not being a 
citizen, in addition to any questions the judges may 
think proper to ask, the following shall be put to him: 

“1. Have you resided in this State two years, or in 
this county one year immediately preceding this elec¬ 
tion? and have you resided in this precinct sixty days 
next preceding this election? 

“2. Have you been absent from this State during 
the two years immediately preceding this election ? and 
if so, did you, while absent, consider this State as your 
home, or did you, while absent, vote in another State? 

“Sec. 10. If the person is objected to as not a resi¬ 
dent of the county or precinct in which he offers to vote, 
then, in like manner, the following questions shall be 
put to him: 


33 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


“I. When did you last come into this county* (or 
precinct) ? 

“2. When you came into this county (or precinct), 
did you come for a temporary purpose merely, or for 
the purpose of making it your home? 

“3. Did you come into this county (or precinct) for 
the purpose of voting in it?” (Sections 8 and 9, article 
3, chapter 33, General Statutes .) 

3. At school elections the voters are not required to 
possess other qualifications than those of voters at any 
general election. 

4. A widow, in order to vote, must have children be¬ 
tween six and twenty years of age, or be a tax-payer. 
If she has' no pupil children, she can only vote on the 
subject of the tax, and not for Trustee. 

5. A divorced woman having children within the 
school age, or having property to be taxed, cannot 
vote on the question of local taxation, or for Trustee. 

6. A woman who is merely living apart from her 
husband, by consent or otherwise, is not entitled to a 
vote. 

7. A woman whose husband is a lunatic, and confined 
in an asylum, or who is a felon confined in the peniten¬ 
tiary, having children or property, cannot vote on the 
question of local taxation or for Trustee. 

8. An alien is one who owns property subject to tax¬ 
ation in the district, but who is not a citizen of the 
United States. Non-residents are not meant. 

9. A proxy must be written. 

10. An unmarried woman, having children of pupil 
age or property, has no right to vote. 


* Or district. 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


39 


11. The statute does not absolutely require that the 
officers of an election should be sworn. All that is 
necessary is that they should swear to the returns. 

12. A question came up involving this: The lands 
of a non-resident occupied by a tenant, with a contract 
that the latter should discharge the taxes; the contro¬ 
verted point was, whether the recourse of the Trustee 
was on the owner or tenant. It was decided that he 
might elect to assess on the one or the other. The 
Trustee may choose the easiest and best method of 
collection. 

13. Three notices were posted in a village embraced 
in a district—one at a store, another at a blacksmith’s 
shop, and the third at a shoemaker’s shop. It was 
sought to invalidate the election on the ground that 
these were not three prominent places in the district. 
It was decided that the posting of said notices at these 
frequented places met the requirements of the law. 
Though a Trustee should fail to give the fifteen days* 
notice prescribed by law, should the electors, by a clear 
majority, vote a tax, it would be legal. All that is 
necessary to render valid the levying of a tax is, that 
the will of the people be “clearly ascertained . ” 

14. A vote of a school district is binding on the tax¬ 
payers of a district after a contract has been made under 
it. When the Trustee contracts with a teacher on the 
basis of a tax voted by the electors of a district, a prop¬ 
er process can be issued for assessing and collecting the 
tax. Opinion delivered by R. W. Green, Chief Justice 
of Rhode Island. 

15. All moneys loaned out of the district <md bonds 
subject to taxation for general revenue and school pur- 


40 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

poses, are subject to district taxation in the district where 
the person resides. 

16. An omission, through error of judgment or 
mistake, to assess a person liable to a tax, does not 
invalidate the tax as against others. (21 Pick ., 76; 6 
Met., 498.) 

17. An election was held in which was involved the 
question of district taxation. The votes were recorded 
without the numerals 1, 2, 3, etc., being attached. It 
was decided that the absence of these numerals did 
not vitiate the election. At the same election it was 
alleged two legal votes were rejected by the judge on 
the ground that the electors were not property-holders. 
It was decided, that if it can be proved that these two 
votes wrongfully refused would have defeated the tax, 
it invalidates the election. The contest of the question 
must be before the County Commissioner, who, under 
section 20, article 5, is empowered to decide all questions 
of difference or doubt arising in his county. It is not 
the province of the Commissioner to institute, but to 
hear and decide upon, a contest. The application to 
contest an election cannot be heard unless notice there¬ 
of, in writing, signed by the party contesting, is given. 
If nobody contests formally, the levying of the tax is 
legal. The officers of the election are subject to a 
penalty for willfully rejecting legal votes. (See section 
8, article 12, chapter 33, General Statutes.) To render 
a judge of an election liable for refusing to permit a 
qualified voter to exercise his right of suffrage, it must 
appear that the refusal was knowingly wrongful, and 
prompted by impure and corrupt motives, and resulted 
in excluding him from voting. (Canefield vs. Bullock , 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


41 


18 B. Mon., 497; 1 Bush , 135; see also same , 711; 1 
Duvall , 66 .) 

The contesting party can appeal within five days from 
the Commissioner to the State Board of Education. 
The duty of the Commissioner in such cases is to re¬ 
main passive, and be prepared to exercise his judicial 
capacity. If no one contests within thirty days after 
the election, he can order the collection of the tax. 

The names of electors voting must be registered in 
ink, and the poll-books properly signed by the officers 
returned. 

The fact that the poll is not returned within five days 
does not invalidate the election. The people must not 
be made to suffer on account of the laches (negligence) 
of the officers. Under the law, fifteen days’ notice 
must be given before a vote can be taken on district 
taxation. Only ten days’ previous notice is required 
when a Trustee is to be elected. Districts intending to 
avail themselves of this provision should give the sub¬ 
ject attention as early as the fifteenth of June, as the 
vote must be taken, if at all, on the first Saturday of 
July of each year. The Trustee cannot be too careful 
to follow the prescription of the law in every particular. 

18. The tax can be applied to but two purposes: 1. 
Improving the character and extending the time of the 
schools, which means the better payment of the salary 
of the teacher, and for the extension of the school for a 
longer term than five months. 2. For the school-house, 
in the following particulars: the purchasing of a site for 
a district school-house; the building, repairing, or fur¬ 
nishing of the house. The Attorney General has de¬ 
cided that the tax can be applied to the purchasing of a 
4 


42 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


blackboard, globes, maps, charts, and like school aids, 
as part of the furniture. 

19. In a fractional district voting a tax, the Trustee 
has power, under section 11, article 7, to appoint a col¬ 
lector of the tax, if it is for the payment of the teach¬ 
er’s salary. 

20. No rate upon the patrons can be levied under the 
existing law. The School Fund can only be supple¬ 
mented by district taxation, or by subscription. 

21. When a local tax is voted, all lands attached to 
the homestead are subject to taxation, provided the 
homestead be in the district voting the tax. If a farm 
consists of two hundred acres in one tract, and the 
homestead and ten acres be located in the district voting 
the tax, the other one hundred and ninety acres are sub¬ 
ject to taxation in the district in which the homestead is 
situated, as well as the ten acres within the boundary. 
But if the lands are separated by intervening tracts, 
these are not subject to taxation in that district in which 
the homestead of the owner is, but are so subject in 
the district in which they are located. 

22. A district voted a tax in which the larger part of 
the property is owned by manufacturing corporations, 
and it was decided that it was subject to the levy. The 
purpose of the State in engaging in education is not to 
confer a private but a public benefit. Capitalists are 
interested in the elevation of citizenship. If manufac¬ 
turers would consult the reliability and permanency of 
labor and the best protection of capital, they would not 
grumble at a cost that tends to satisfy employes by 
furnishing their children with educational advantages. 
Such property is taxed for all other purposes, and there 
can be no reason for its exemption from taxation levied 


.COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


43 


for the improvement of the intelligence of the people. 
The development of minds must proceed with equal step 
with the development of mines. 

When a Sheriff fails to collect a tax levied for the pay¬ 
ment of the teacher’s salary, it is competent for the 
Trustee to employ a collector under section u, article 7. 
It would be well, in such a case, to put the collector 
under bond. 

23. All property listed for taxation must be valued 
at what it will sell for in curt'ency and not in gold; and 
at what it will sell for at a voluntary and not a forced 
sale. 

24. All goods and merchandise owned by merchants, 
whether in their stores or shops, or in course of ship¬ 
ment to them, are subject to taxation and must be listed. 
The valuation must be made as of the 1st day of April. 

25. Merchants, manufacturers, and grocers have no 
right to deduct the amount of their indebtedness from 
the value of their goods, wares, and merchandise, but 
from the value of the notes, accounts, and bills of ex¬ 
change owned by them alone. 

26. No property belonging to non-residents must be 
overlooked. 

27. The holder of the legal title, the holder of the 
equitable title, and the claimant in possession of land on 
the 10th of January, are all liable for the tax due on it 
to the district. But as between themselves, the holder 
of the equitable title to it must list and pay taxes on it. 

The personal bona fide indebtedness of tax-payers can 
only be deducted from what they own and list under the 
equalization law, such as notes, accounts, bonds, bills of 
exchange, choses in action, debts, &c., and from nothing 
else. 


5 


44 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


28. All lands, city or town lots, must be listed in the 
district in which they lie, it matters not where the owner 
lives, except in the case referred to in paragraph 21 of 
comments under this section (1) and article (2). 

29. The following construction is given of the Stat¬ 
utes: 

“‘Cattle’ includes horse, mule, ass, sheep, hog, or 
goat of any age or sex, bull, cow, calf, and ox; cow 
includes heifer. 

“The words ‘real estate’ or ‘land,’ in the statute 
law, shall be construed to mean lands, tenements, and 
hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests there¬ 
in, other than a chattel interest; and the words “per¬ 
sonal estate” shall include chattels, real and other estate, 
as, upon the death of the owner intestate, would devolve 
upon his personal representative.” (Chapter 21, sections 
II, 13, General Statutes.) 

30. The following property is exempt from taxation: 

“The property mentioned in this section shall be ex¬ 
empt from all taxation, viz: cattle of the value of fifty 
dollars, the growing crop on land listed for taxation, 
articles manufactured in the family for family use, all 
poultry raised for family use, and the provisions on 
hand for family use; and the real estate and invest¬ 
ments devoted to public schools, seminaries, universi¬ 
ties, colleges, court-houses, clerk’s offices, jails, public 
graveyards, lunatic, orphan, and deaf and dumb asy¬ 
lums, hospitals, infirmaries, widows and orphans’ asy¬ 
lums, foundling asylums, and real estate not exceeding 
five acres, from which no rent, profit, dividend, or in¬ 
come is received or promised, belonging to incorporated 
lodges of Free Masons, or incorporated lodges of Odd 
Fellows, or incorporated lodges of Knights of Pythias. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


45 


Property belonging to any city or town, which is nec¬ 
essary to carrying on the government of such city or 
town, viz: police court-house, mayor’s offices, includ¬ 
ing offices for the various city or town officers in said 
buildings,.fire-engine houses, engine and horses belong¬ 
ing thereto, work-houses, alms-houses, hospitals, pest- 
houses, together with the grounds belonging thereto, 
the real estate not exceeding five acres, and investments 
devoted to churches; also the property of the United 
States used for custom-houses, post-offices, docks, ship¬ 
yards, forts, arsenals, or barracks, and United States 
bonds, except * the interest arising on said bonds , which 
shall be liable under the residuary clause of this act; also, 
all the property of negroes, mulattoes, and Indians is ex¬ 
empt from the tax for the support of Common Schools.” 
(Section 3, chapter 92, General Statutes .) 

31. The following property is taxable: 

“Property shall be listed for taxation as of the tenth 
of January of each year, by the assessor, as follows: 

“ 1. Land and town lots, or any interest therein, in¬ 
cluding life estates and leases, for a term having two 
years or more to run, all to be listed in the county where 
situated. 

“2. Horses, mares, mules, jacks, and jennets. 

“3. Cattle. 

“4. Gold, silver, and other metallic watches, clocks, 
composed in whole or part of metal or wood, gold and 
silver plate, pianos, riding or pleasure carriages, buggies, 
gigs, sulkies, stage coaches, omnibuses, and all descrip- 


*This provision declared to be unconstitutional by the Court of 
Appeals. Assessors will not, therefore, list incomes on United States 
bonds for taxation. 



4 6 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

tions of vehicles for the transportation of persons or pas¬ 
sengers, by whatever name known or called, including the 
harness thereof, whether in use or not; but such of the 
above named property as is kept for sale in the shop or 
store of a manufacturer thereof, or store of a merchant, 
shall be listed as stores and merchandise are required to 
be listed.” (Section 4, chapter 92, General Statutes.) 

32. “The assessor, after having taken the lists of all 
property required to be listed, as above, shall require 
each person, on oath, to fix the amount he or she is 
worth from all other sources on the day to which said 
list relates, after taking out his or her indebtedness from 
said amount. And the said assessor shall take from the 
said amount so assessed and listed the sum of one hund¬ 
red dollars, and set down and list the balance for tax¬ 
ation. This section includes all property not exempt 
from taxation, other than that mentioned in section four, 
whether manufactured, produced, purchased, or other¬ 
wise procured, such as spirituous liquors and all mix¬ 
tures thereof, the produce of mines, farms, forests, and 
other productions of the earth, manufactured articles of 
all kinds, and all property of every sort and description, 
notes, accounts, bonds, bills of exchange, and choses in 
actions, debts, and demands of every kind; but does 
not include lands or other property not within this State, 
subject by law to tax, and actually taxed, by the State 
or county where situated, nor bank or other stocks when 
the bank or other institution or corporation in which it 
is held is required to pay tax on the same. ' 

“The indebtedness which may be deducted as afore¬ 
said must be just and honest debts owing as principal, 
and not as surety, and created for a valuable considera¬ 
tion, which the person intends to pay, and not with a 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


47 

view to lessen the amount of his taxable property. The 
assessor, in taking in the list, shall swear the person list¬ 
ing to the facts herein stated and required, and, upon 
such person refusing to take said oath, he or she shall 
not be entitled to the deduction of his or her indebted¬ 
ness, and be reported to the county court. 

“The holder of the legal title, and the holder of the 
equitable title, and the claimant in possession of land on 
the tenth of January, are all liable for the tax on it to 
the Commonwealth. But, as between themselves, it is 
the duty of the holder of the equitable title to list it, 
and pay the taxes, whether in possession or not.” {Sec¬ 
tions 5, 6, and 7, chapter 92, General Statutes .) 

33 - “The tax-book should be in the following form: 


>- | Full names of tax-payers of-county. 

n> | Land, each tract in acres. 


u> | Nearest resident. 


| Number of election precinct in which situated. 


<-/t | Value of lands. 


O' | Town lots. 



| Town or city. 


00 

| Number of lots on town plat. 


VO 

| Value of town lots. 


0 

| Horses and mares. 


2 

| Value of horses and mares. 


N> 

| Mules. 


OJ 

| Value of mules. 


S 1 

| Jennets. 


£ 

| Value of jennets. 


O' 

| Cattle. 


•s 

j Value of cattle over $50. 


00 

| Stores. 


0 

| Value of stores. 


IO | 

O 1 

| Value under the equalization law. 


►H 

Value of pleasure carriages, barouches, buggies, 
stage coaches, gigs, omnibuses, and other ve¬ 
hicles for passengers. 


to 

to 

Value of gold, silver, and other metallic watches 

and clocks, gold and silver plate, and pianos. 

1 

Total value at *-cents per $100. 


♦The tax voted. 











































48 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


34. * ‘ All estate, real and personal, and all interest in 
such estate, named and specified in the tax-book afore¬ 
said, shall be assessed for taxation, and the tax paid by 
the owner or possessor thereof, to the person authorized 
by law to receive the same. 

“Lands and town lots shall be valued for taxation, in¬ 
cluding the improvements thereon, without reference to 
any conflicting title.” ( Sections 4 and 5, article 4, chap¬ 
ter 92, General Statutes.} 

35. A person resident in a school district at the time 
the tax is voted, and properly listed there, remains sub¬ 
ject to taxation therein, notwithstanding he has sub¬ 
sequently removed from the district. ( Woodzvard vs. 
French , 31 W. , 337; Walker vs. Miner , 32 W., y6g.) 

\ 3. The officers of the election shall return a fair and true record 
of the votes taken for and against such a tax, certified and sworn to 
by themselves, before some officer authorized to administer oaths, to 
the Common School Commissioner, if he shall not have presided at 
the election, or to the county judge, if the Commissioner shall have 
presided; and if it be found that a majority of those voting shall 
have voted in favor of such district tax, such fact shall be so certified 
to the parties concerned, and it shall be the duty of the Common 
School Commissioner of the county to furnish the sheriff with the 
boundary of the district, and of the latter officer to collect said dis¬ 
trict tax. 


Remarks. 

1. “A fair and true record” of voters consists in the 
observance of the following conditions: Each voter’s 
name must be recorded in a poll-book kept for that pur¬ 
pose, commencing at the head of each column with the 
figure 1, and so continuing the count, in numerals, down 
to the foot of the page. The votes must be properly 
summed up; the poll-book must be certified over the 
signatures of the officers of the election, certified and 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


49 


sworn to by some officer authorized to administer oaths, 
to the Commissioner (if he shall not have presided at the 
election), or to the county judge (if the Commissioner 
shall have presided). The judge and clerk must each 
sign his name at the foot of every page of the poll-book, 
as the election progresses, so that the same may thereby 
be identified. {See General Statutes , article 3, section 5.) 

2. It is the duty of the sheriff of the county, when 
furnished by the Commissioner with the boundary of 
the district, to examine the assessor’s books, ascertain 
the taxable property thereof, and collect the taxes upon 
the property subject to such special taxation. 

3. By consent of the sheriff, the Trustee can appoint 
a collector. Security should be required. 

4. We have been informed that sheriffs refuse to col¬ 
lect the district tax because not furnished with the names 
of tax-payers and assessed value of taxable property. 
It is the duty of the Commissioner to furnish the sheriff 
with the boundary of the district. He can then easily go 
-to the assessor’s books and get the valuation. To assist 
him in the work, the Trustee should be willing to furnish 
him with the names of all the tax-payers in the district. 
The sheriff who refuses to take the necessary pains to 
find out the tax-payers of a district who vote the levy, 
and to collect the taxes to aid in the work of building 
up a Common School System, should be remembered 
by the friends of popular education. When thousands 
of officers are shirking responsibility and neglecting 
duty, how vain is the cry of inefficiency of our Common 
School System! If the people had a mind to work, and 
each would do the duty nearest him, and especially that 
entailed upon him, how soon would every breach in our 

5 


5o 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


system be repaired, and what beneficent fruits would we 
see result from such harmony of spirit and unity of 
effort! 

5. Any judge, notary public, clerk of the court, or 
justice of the peace within the county, is authorized to 
administer oaths. (Section 11, chapter 81, General Stat¬ 
utes. ) 

6. A Commissioner, if present at a school election, 
has the right, ex officio, to preside as judge, if he elects 
to exercise that prerogative. In such cases the return 
of the record must be made to the county judge. 

§ 4. The money thus raised shall be accounted for and paid over 
by the sheriff within two months after it has been voted, or subse¬ 
quently upon the order of the Trustee, in the same manner in which 
he is required to account for and pay over the State revenue, to the 
Commissioner of the county, he being paid for his services not more 
than he would be allowed for collecting the same amount of the 
State revenue tax. 

1. Upon the failure of the sheriff to account for and 
pay the district tax within two months, unless other¬ 
wise directed by the Trustee, he and his sureties shall 
be liable therefor. (Section 8, article 8, chapter 92, 
General Statutes.) 

2. The sheriff is allowed ten per cent, for collecting 
the district tax on all sums not exceeding one thousand 
dollars; on the second thousand, eight per cent. ( Sec¬ 
tion 11, article 8, chapter 92, General Statutes.) 

3. Though a sheriff should fail to collect a district tax 
within the two months indicated by the statute, it doe* 
not vitiate the levy. 

§ 5 * The money thus raised and paid to the Commissioner shall be 
paid out on the order of the Trustee, and the Commissioner shall be 
responsible on his bond therefor. It shall be expended for either of 
the objects herein specified, and for nothing else, to-wit: the pur- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


51 


chasing of a site for a district school-house; the building, repairing, 
or furnishing of the district school-house, and the better payment of 
the salary of the teacher or teachers thereof, or for the extension of 
the free school for a longer term than five months. 

Remarks. 

1. The object of voting the tax should always be clear¬ 
ly expressed in the posted notices, and the Trustee should 
sacredly use the proceeds only for the purposes for which 
it was voted. The Trustee should take a receipt for all 
the money he disburses. The Trustee’s order is a suffi¬ 
cient voucher for the Commissioner. The Trustee’s an¬ 
nual report to the Commissioner should always show 
how this money has been expended. Great care should 
be exercised that the money thus raised should b$ util¬ 
ized in the production of the best possible results. 

2. Should a Trustee so direct as' that any portion of 
this money should be applied to his private benefit, he 
would be guilty of a misdemeanor, for which he may be 
removed from office by the Commissioner, and fined; 
and t\ie money would go to the benefit of the Common 
School of his district. A public officer is bound to give 
to his official duties the same care and attention that a 
prudent man would give to his private business. A 
Trustee who comes short of this is guilty of a willful 
neglect of duty. 

3. If a Trustee should pay money raised by tax to an 
unqualified teacher (one without a certificate or license), 
he is liable to fine for a misdemeanor. 

4. The order of desirableness in the application of the 
proceeds of a tax, we suggest as, viz: 1. Secure a good 
school-house. Seat it and furnish it with blackboards. 
2. Secure suitable aids to instruction. The principal 
facts of geography are learned better through the eye 


52 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


than in any other way, and every school-room should 
be furnished with maps of the world, the United States, 
of Kentucky, and, if possible, of the county. Globes* 
also, are great aids. Cards containing the letters of 
the alphabet or words, or reading cases, are very useful 
in teaching children to read by the improved Webb or 
Word Method. An abacus or numeral frame will en¬ 
able a teacher to rapidly teach the elements of arithme¬ 
tic. Under the cover of the word “furnishing," in this 
section, a tax can be voted for the purchase of these 
aids. 3. Having furnished the place and the imple¬ 
ments of education, secure the services of a competent 
teacher. Better have a five months’ school taught well, 
than a longer term by an indifferent instructor. 

§ 6. The Trustee shall make settlement with the Common School 
Commissioner for the amount of money thus received, at the time of 
making his report to said Commissioner, as required by the fifteenth 
section of the seventh article of the Revised School Laws, and shall 
show by vouchers how the money has been disbursed; and should 
the said Commissioner discover any fraud or misappropriation of 
funds on the part of said trustee, it shall be his duty to proceed 
against them as authorized by the sixteenth section of the seventh 
article of the Revised School Laws. 

Remarks. 

1. The penalty for misuse of moneys raised by dis¬ 
trict taxation is a fine of not less than twenty-dollars, 
and liability to an action for damages by any person 
injured thereby. 

2. The settlement must be made with the Commis¬ 
sioner at the termination of each school year. 

# 7. The Common School Commissioner shall, in making his annual 
report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the schools 
taught in his county, make report also of the amount of money thus 
raised, and the manner in which it has been appropriated. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


53 


Remark. 

Commissioners should never neglect this report, as it 
can never be definitely known what the State is doing 
in the matter of popular education without a full and 
accurate statement of what the districts are doing in a 
supplemental way. 

§ 8. The tax allowed under the foregoing sections shall not exceed 
twenty-five cents, in any one year, on the hundred dollars’ worth of 
taxable property in the district. 

Remark. 

The Trustee must state in his posted notice what is 
the exact tax proposed to be levied. The question may 
be submitted for any sum under twenty-five cents. • 

g 9. The provisions of the foregoing sections shall apply to all cities 
and towns reporting as one district, which have not now the privilege 
of levying a special school tax, except that such cities and towns, for 
the purpose of establishing a graded system of free schools, may levy 
a tax not exceeding thirty cents, in any one year, on the hundred dol¬ 
lars’ worth of taxable property in the district. 

Remark. 

Any city having by its charter the privilege of levy¬ 
ing a sum less than thirty cents, may, under this general 
statute, submit the question of additional taxation not 
exceeding thirty cents. Formerly no city could estab¬ 
lish a graded school except by special act; but the pro¬ 
visions of the law are now ample to enable them to do 
so without additional legislation. 

Article III .—Board of Education. 

g t. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Secretary of 
State, the Attorney General, and their successors in office, together 
with two professional teachers to be elected by them, Shall be a body- 
politic and corporate, by the name and style of “ The Board of Edu¬ 
cation for the State of Kentucky,” subject to alteration and repeal 
by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth. 


54 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Remarks. 

1. The Board, as at present organized, is composed 
of the following members: H. A. M. Henderson, Su¬ 
perintendent of Public Instruction; J. Stoddard John¬ 
ston, Secretary of State; Thos. E. Moss, Attorney 
General; Robert D. Allen, Superintendent of ‘ ‘ The 
Kentucky Military Institute;” W. H. Bartholomew, 
Principal of the Eighth Ward School, Louisville. 

2 . The Superintendent is ex officio President, and the 
Board meets upon his call. Ed. C. Went is the Secre¬ 
tary. 

§ 2. The corporation may take, hold, and dispose of real or per¬ 
sonal estate for the benefit of the Common Schools of the State. 

§ 3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be President 
of the Board, and, with two other members, may control its corpo¬ 
rate action at any regular or called meeting of the Board. 

\ 4. The Board shall meet on or before the 30th day of June and 
30th day of December of each year; and at other times upon the 
call of the President, who shall keep a record of the proceedings of 
the Board; its corporate acts shall be attested by the signature of the 
President, or by the signatures of the other two members, and his 
or their private seal shall stand in lieu of a corporate seal. The 
bonds, certificates of stock, and other evidences of property, owned 
by the Board for Common School purposes, shall be in the custody of 
the President, and the place of deposit shall be shown by the records 
of the Board. 

\ 5. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the two profes¬ 
sional educators, who shall be members of the Board, shall constitute 
a standing committee, who shall prepare rules, by-laws, and regula¬ 
tions for the government of the Common Schools of the State, which 
shall be adopted and enforced under the authority and direction of 
the County School Commissioners, in all cases where the Trustee shall 
fail to enforce such ; shall, from time to time, determine, select, and 
recommend a proper course of study, and suitable series of text-books 
for the free schools, to be adopted at discretion by the Trustee; shall 
recommend suitable works for district libraries, and such standard 
works and professional aids for teachers as they may deem proper, on 
educational science and the arts of teaching. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS, 55 

RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE COMMON 

SCHOOLS. 

Sec. i. The Common School shall embrace two De¬ 
partments, viz: the Primary and Elementary Depart¬ 
ments. 

Sec. 2 . Two other Departments, in which higher 
branches than those taught in the Common School may 
be studied, and in which tuition fees may be charged, 
maybe added, viz: the Intermediate and High School 
Departments: Provided , The teaching of such branches 
shall not interfere with the thorough teaching of the 
pupils in the Common School Department; and the 
Trustee of the district shall scrupulously see that, in 
the introduction of the higher branches of study into 
the school, there is no abridgment of the facilities of 
those students that are the proper pupils of the Com¬ 
mon School. 

S^c. 3. The pupils of the school may be divided into 
as many classes as shall be found convenient and proper. 
Each Department shall include as many classes as the 
course of study requires. We recommend, as a good 
analytical method of grading district schools, the follow¬ 
ing schedule: 

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION—PRIMARY DEPARTMENT. 

Grade I. —First Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —Two hundred words. (Cards.) Davis’Primer completed. 

Spelling — Card words and words found in the reading lessons. 

Arithmetic —Count with objects to 100, and read the Arabic figures 
to 100. Solve simple problems in addition. I, V, X, L, and their 
combinations. 

Mental Arithmetic —Simple problems in addition. 

Penmanship —On ruled slates; small script letters and Arabic 
figures. 

Punctuation and Composition — Make and name the punctuation 
marks found in their Readers. 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


56 


Grade I.—Second Division. 

* Time —Five months. 

Reading —First Reader completed. 

Spelling —The words found in the reading lessons, and 100 selected 
words. 

Arithmetic —Addition tables to the 9s, inclusive. Problems in addi¬ 
tion and subtraction. Read and write numbers of one period. C, 
D, and their combinations to M, inclusive. 

Mental Arithmetic —Simple problems in addition and subtraction. 

Pemnanship — Special instruction on i, u , w, n , m , x, v t o 9 a , e , c 9 
r, s, t , d, p. 

Punctuation and Composition —'Write simple sentences, showing the 
use of the (.) and (?). 

Grade II.— First Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —Second Reader completed. 

Spelling —The words found in the reading lessons, and 100 selected 
words. 

Arithmetic —Read and write numbers of two periods. Problems in 
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division (single figure as 
divisor). 

Mental Arithmetic —Simple problems in addition, subtraction, and 
multiplication. 

Penmanship —Special instruction on /, b, h , k t j, y , g, z, f. Capi¬ 
tals O y E, D. 

Punctuation and Composition —Write sentences and words showing 
the use of (’), (!), (.), and (?). 

Grade II. —Second Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —Third Reader completed. 

Spelling —The words found in the reading lessons, and 200 selected 
words. 

Arithmetic —Read and write numbers of four periods. Complete 
division. Read and write numbers containing decimals, and also 
solve problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division 
of decimals. 

Mental Arithmetic —Simple problems in addition, subtraction, mul¬ 
tiplication, and division. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


57 


Penmanship —Special instruction on C, H , X\ O, Z, W t V> U, Y t 
A t JV, Af, T, P t I t Jy Ly Gy Ky P, By R. N. B.—Davis’ Primer will 
assist teachers. 

Punctuation and Composition —Write sentences and words showing 
the use of punctuation marks. Special instruction as to the use of 
capital letters. Short compositions describing familiar objects. 

COURSE OF INSTRUCTION—ELEMENTARY DEPARTMENT. 

Grade III.— First Division. 

Time —Five months. * 

Reading —First half of the Fourth Reader. 

Spelling —Words in the reading lesson, and words and dictation 
exercises f ound in first sixth of the Speller. 

Written Arithmetic —From beginning of text-book to common frac¬ 
tions. 

Mental Arithmetic —Course to correspond with that of the written. 

Penmanship —Book III. 

Grammar —Large print of Etymology. Recognize the parts of 
speech in Reader. 

Composition —First sixth of the text-book. 

Geography —Instruction lessons on shape of earth, natural divisions 
of land and water, use of globe and maps, distance, geography of 
Kentucky. 

History —Discoveries and settlements. 

Grade III.— Second Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —Fourth Reader completed. 

Spelling —Words in the reading lesson, and the words and dictation 
exercises found in the second sixth of the Speller. 

Written Arithmetic —Common and decimal fractions; denominate 
numbers. 

Mental Arithmetic —Course to correspond with that of the written. 

Penmanship —Book IV. 

Grammar —Etymology completed. 

Composition —Second sixth. 

Geography —Local and descriptive geography of the United States. 

History —History of the Colonies. 

Grade IV.—First Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —First half of Fifth Reader. 


58 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Spelling —Words found in the reading lessons; words and dictation 
exercises in the third sixth of the Speller. 

Written Arithmetic —Per centage to interest. 

Mental Arithmetic —Course to correspond with that of the written. 
Peni?ianship —Book V. 

Grammar —First half of Syntax. Parsing simple and complex sen¬ 
tences. 

Composition —Third sixth. 

Geography —Geography of North America and South America. 
Flistoiy —Revolutionary War. Constitutional Convention. 

Grade IV.— Second Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —Fifth Reader completed. 

Spelling —Words in reading lessons, and words and dictation exer¬ 
cises found in the fourth sixth of the Speller. 

Written Arithmetic —Interest to ratio and proportion. 

Mental Arithmetic —Course to correspond with that of the written. 
Penmanship —Book VI. 

Grammar —Syntax completed. Parsing review, simple, compound, 
and complex sentences. 

Composition —Fourth sixth. 

Geography —Geography of Europe. 

History —Administrations : Washington’s, John Adams’, Jefferson’s. 

Grade V.— First Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —First half of Sixth Reader. 

Spelling —Words in reading lessons ; words and dictation exercises in 
the fifth sixth of the Speller. 

Written Arithmetic —Arithmetic completed to mensuration. 

Mental Arithmetic —-Course to correspond with that of the written. 
Penmanship —Book VI. 

Grammar -—General review. 

Composition —Fifth sixth. 

Geography —Geography of Asia and Africa. 

History —Administrations: Madison’s, Monroe’s, J. Q. Adams’, Jack¬ 
son’s. 

Grade V.— Second Division. 

Time —Five months. 

Reading —Sixth Reader completed. 

Spelling —Speller completed. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


59 


Written Arithmetic —Mensuration and miscellaneous examples. 

Mental Arithmetic —Course to correspond with that of the written. 

Penmanship —Boys, book VII; girls, book X. 

Grammar —General review. 

Composition —Text book completed. 

Geography —Short course on Physical Geography. 

History —History completed to the civil war. 

N. B.— (a.') Instruction lessons by the teacher should precede practice by the pupils. 
ib.) Teachers are requested to pay attention to the moral development of the pupils. 

Sec. 4. There shall be appointed in the Common 
School one principal teacher, who shall have a certifi¬ 
cate signed by at least two of the Board of Examiners. 
When necessary, additional teachers may be appointed 
as may be required. 

Sec. 5. The session of the school may begin at any 
time before the second day of February, and continue 
five months, except in the cases of three months' 
schools, which may begin at any time before the sec¬ 
ond day of April. 

Sec. 6. The school shall be taught at least six hours 
each day, exclusive of recesses or intermissions, and the 
daily programme may be arranged to suit the seasons 
of the year and the convenience of the district, which 
shall be agreed upon by the Trustee and teacher. In 
cases where they cannot agree, the Commissioner shall 
be umpire to decide between them. 

Sec. 7 . The principal teacher shall have charge of the 
school-house, furniture, and fixtures, and shall see that 
the property of the school is protected from unnecessary 
damage. 

Sec. 8 . The teacher shall aim at such discipline as 
would be exercised by a judicious parent in his family; 
and in no case shall resort be had to cruel or unusual 
punishment as a mode of discipline. 


6 


6o 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Sec. 9. The principal teacher is vested with author¬ 
ity to carry into effect the rules and orders of the State 
Board, and it is made the duty of the Trustee, express¬ 
ly, to enforce their observance. 

Sec. 10. All children of residents of the district shall 
be entitled to the benefits of the Common School, with¬ 
in the limits prescribed by the laws of the State. 

Sec. 11. No pupil under the age of six or over the 
age of twenty years shall be received or continued in 
the Common School.* 

Sec. 12. The pupils of the school are under the 
authority of their teachers while in school, and while 
going to and from school. 

Sec. 13. Any pupil who shall be habitually regard¬ 
less of duty, or be guilty of gross insubordination or 
immoral conduct, may be suspended by the teacher. 
Such suspension shall be reported to the Trustee, for 
his action, within five days. 

§ 14. No pupil shall be allowed to leave the school 
before the hour of dismission without the consent of 
the teacher. Where the conduct and habits of a pupil 
are found to be seriously injurious to other pupils, such 
pupil shall be suspended for a definite time, or expelled 
for the term, as the Trustee may direct. 

Sec. 15. All communication of pupils in the school¬ 
room, by whispering, talking, or otherwise, except by 
permission of the teacher, is positively forbidden. 

Sec. 16. In case of wanton damage to school furni¬ 
ture, buildings, grounds, or other school property, com¬ 
mitted by a pupil, such pupil shall be suspended by 
the teacher, and the facts reported by him to the Board 
of Trustees, who may suspend or expel for a definite 


♦This means without paying tuition. 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


61 


time, or expulsion for the term, as the gravity of the 
offense may demand. 

Sec. i 7. Infant, or the youngest class of pupils, may 
not be kept confined to the school-room longer than three 
hours in a day, but while in the school must receive all 
necessary attention from the teacher. 

Sec. 18. Every teacher shall keep the register fur¬ 
nished by the Superintendent, and return it to the Com¬ 
missioners, with the reports complete, at the close of the 
term of his school, as a condition of receiving his final 
pay. 

Sec. 19. More than one book on a subject to pupils 
of same grade must not be allowed. 

Sec. 20. Any pupil, from absence or other cause, fall¬ 
ing behind his class, may be degraded, if the teacher 
finds such a course advisable in order to secure a more 
rapid progress of others of the grade. 

Sec. 21. The School Commissioner shall furnish each 
teacher of a Common School with a copy of these rules, 
together with other recommendations of the State Board; 
and the teacher, in each case, shall hold the same sub¬ 
ject to the use and reference of the Trustee when re¬ 
quired. 

COURSE OF STUDY. 

Primary Department. 

Reading —First, Second, and Third Readers. 

Spelling —To spell from the Readers and from the Spelling Book, or 
from Primer. 

Written Arithmetic —Notation, numeration, addition, subtraction, 
multiplication, and division. 

Mental Arithmetic —Practical examples, embracing addition, subtrac¬ 
tion, multiplication, and division. 

Roman Nunierals —To one thousand. 

Penmanship —To write on slates or in copy-books, as teacher and 
Trustee may determine. 


62 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Punctuation —Pupils to learn the name and use of all the pauses 
and marks found in their Readers. 

Elementary Department. 

Reading —Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Readers. 

Spelling —To spell from their Readers and from the Spelling Book. 
Written Arithmetic —Some Intermediate Arithmetic should be com- 
n enced and completed in this department. 

Mental Arithmetic —Practical examples, embracing the addition, sub¬ 
traction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, mixed num¬ 
bers, fractional numbers, and denominate numbers. 

Roman Numerals —Continued. 

Penmanship —Pupils to write in copy-books as Trustee or teacher 
may direct. 

Punctuation —Pupils to name and tell the use of the pauses and 
marks found in their Readers. 

j English Grammar — 

Composition — 

Geography —Intermediate Geography completed. 

History of the United States — 

Text-books Recommended. 

American Primer —By W. J. Davis, Louisville. 

Spellers —Butler’s, DeWolf’s, Eclectic or Independent. 

Readers —Butler’s, Butler-Goodrich’s, McGuffey’s or Independent. 
Written Arithmetic —Towne’s, Ray’s, Peck’s, Olney’s. 

Mental Arithmetic —Towne’s or Ray’s. 

Grammar- —Butler’s, Harvey’s, or Murch’s. 

Geography —Monteith’s, Mitchell’s, Eclectic, or Cornell’s. 

History —Stephens’, Venable’s, Barnes’, or Butler’s United States. 
Cotnposition —Bonnell’s, or Swinton’s Language Lessons. 

Maps —Mitchell’s New Outline. 

School Record —Jno. P. Morton & Co.’s, and Kentucky School 
Record, published by Major, Johnston & Barrett, Frankfort. 

Books Suitable for a District Library, and Aids Recommended. 
Phelps’ Hand Book for Teachers. 

Apgar’s System of Map Drawing. 

Ridpath’s History of the United States. 

Kinsi’s Drawing. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


63 


Henderson’s Commentary on the School Laws, 
which was strongly commended to Trustees and teachers desiring to 
execute their duties in a thoroughly legal manner. 

McGill’s History of Virginia. 

Brown’s Physiology and Hygiene. 

Williams’ Parser’s Manual. 

Object Lessons and Charts—Wilson’s and Calkin’s. 

Bronson’s Elocution. 

How to Teach—J. W. Schermerhorn & Co., New York. 

Henderson’s Test-speller. 

Page’s Theory and Practice. 

Duncan’s Examiner or Teacher’s Aid. 

Word Method. 

The picture and word method of teaching beginners 
to read, having been used with the most gratifying suc¬ 
cess in the schools of other States and of the city of 
Louisville, it was resolved to recommend, for use in the 
schools of the Stale, “Pictures and Words for Teaching 
Little Children to Read—by Wm. J. Davis, Louisville.” 

It is not understood that it is necessary to teach this 
method in order to meet the requirements of a Com¬ 
mon School; but the system is approved and earnestly 
recommended to teachers. 

1. The Trustee may employ his discretion in selecting 
the series to be used in his district from among the text¬ 
books recommended by the State Board of Education. 
After the Trustee has prescribed what series of text¬ 
books shall be used in the school under his jurisdiction, 
such series shall be continued in uniform use for two 
school years. The Trustee cannot exercise this prerog¬ 
ative except when the County Board of Examiners does 
not elect to prescribe a uniform series for use in the 
county. But one book upon a subject to pupils of the 
same grade can be allowed. 


64 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


2. For prerogative of the County Board of Examin¬ 
ers, and action of the State Board with reference there¬ 
to, see section 8 of article 8. 

3. As a frequent change of text-books involves ex¬ 
pense, the Board has resolved to make no change by 
throwing out text-books now recommended. It may 
add to, but not subtract from, the list. 

4. No consideration but the value of the text-book 
and the good of the schools ever operates upon the 
Board. The last meeting of the Board upon the sub¬ 
ject of text-books was held in February, 1876. The 
next regular meeting will be held in January, 1878. 

5. What is meant by “regulations established by law 
for the government of schools,” in article 11, section 6, 
of chapter 18, General Statutes, is the rules and regula¬ 
tions prescribed by the State Board of Education. The 
observance of these is not merely recommendatory, but 
mandatory. It is the duty of each Trustee to furnish 
each teacher with a copy of the sam j, and of the latter 
to rigidly enforce them. If it could be shown that a 
teacher had willfully disregarded these rules, it might 
be ground for the forfeiture of his pay. Thorough sys¬ 
tem and discipline are essential elements to the complete 
success of our schools. Every true friend of popular 
education will be scrupulous in the observance of law. 
Where contempt of law and order exists, anarchy pre¬ 
vails, and this is synonymous with failure. The most 
elementary definition of education is discipline, and this 
partly means respect for authority. It is quite as noble 
in its place to serve well as to rule. Those who chafe 
under regulations prescribed by legally-constituted au¬ 
thority could learn a large lesson by thoroughly study¬ 
ing until fully comprehending those words of our Great 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


65 


Master, “ / am among you as one that serveth” The 
teacher must feel that part of the dignity of. his office 
resides in the fact that he is respectful to the author¬ 
ity under which he serves, and be able to give a wide 
reading to the expression, “greater is he that ruleth 
his spirit than he that taketh a city,” when self-conceit 
would rise up to controvert the rule of those set by law 
over him. Some of the world’s noblest spirits, judged 
by this standard, must necessarily be amid those that 
serve. The man who begins to think meanly of his of¬ 
fice will soon debase his work. If, by patient, diligent, 
self-denying, yet self-respecting service, he magnifies his 
office, he will go up one day to take his place among 
the nobles of the universe. In almost every department 
of life it is by humbling ourselves that we are exalted. 
A teacher should try to carry into the scene of his labors 
a consciousness of obedience to a higher authority than 
dominates the earth. The service whose inspiration is 
simply a subsistence or the applause of a district, will 
halt when the slightest obstacle presents itself, and refuse 
to wear the collar at the first heavy draft required of it. 
“To do my duty as it is prescribed for me in any place 
I consent to fill,” is the loftiest formula anybody can 
adopt when accepting a position under the government 
of authorities outside of himself. Degradation consists 
in rebellion. The State is the master of the Common 
School teacher. The world can boast no nobler men 
and women than those who have made the State’s inter¬ 
est, as prescribed for them their own through a toilsome 
life-service, and have fathomed the depths of the mean¬ 
ing of loyalty to law, and have dignified the station in 
which they had elected to stand. These are the rega- 
6 


66 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


liaed nobles, the chosen 'of labor; and to be among this 
elect band is a pure aim of ambition. Let it, then, be 
understood that those who most truly fill their office, 
according to the laws made for them, stand highest in 
their profession. 

§ 6. The instruction prescribed by the Board shall embrace the 
elements of a plain education in English, including grammar, arith¬ 
metic, geography, and history ; but the teaching of any other lan¬ 
guage or science shall not be prohibited. 

Remarks. 

1. If a teacher, with the consent of the Trustee, 
teaches other branches than those required by the law, 
as interpreted by the State Board of Education, he can 
charge a tuition fee. 

2. Elementary Composition is a Common School 
study. If taught to pupils advanced in the science 
and art, it may be charged for. Elocution is not a 
Common School study. If other history than that of 
the United States is taught, it may be charged for. 

3. A pupil pursuing none of the branches prescribed 
for the Common School can be required to pay. 

4. With the approval of the Trustee, a teacher, if he 
choses, may teach other branches without charge. 

§ 7. The Board shall have the power to require Commissioners and 
Trustees of Common Schools to report facts, additional to those now 
required to be reported, whenever, in their judgment, the interest of 
the cause of Common Schools in the State shall indicate the necessity 
thereof. 

Remarks. 

I. The Board requires the name and post-office ad¬ 
dress of each teacher and Trustee; and it is the duty of 
the Commissioner to annually furnish this. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


67 


2. The Board requires a report of the amount of 
money raised by district taxation and private subscrip¬ 
tion. 

3. The Board requires a Commissioner to inform 
the Superintendent, when the County Board of Exam¬ 
iners make an adoption of text-books, what books are 
selected. 

4. The Board requires a Commissioner to inform the 
Superintendent of the time and place of holding the 
Teachers’ Institute. 

§ 8. The Board shall have power to organize, and keep in exist¬ 
ence, a State Teachers’ Association, to be composed of the members 
of the Board, all the officers and teachers connected with the Com¬ 
mon Schools throughout the State, all officers and teachers connected 
with public free schools in any city or town in the Commonwealth, 
together with such other teachers and friends of popular education 
as the Board or Association may invite to become members of such 
organization, for the purpose of promoting the cause of Common 
Schools in the State. The Association shall elect its own officers, 
and adopt by-laws and rules for its own government. The Board 
may cause to be organized, and held annually, a model State Teach¬ 
ers’ Institute, at the time and place of holding the Association above 
provided for, for the instruction of members in attendance; and may 
provide, through the Superintendent of Public Instruction, such 
teachers, means of demonstration and illustration, and such other 
aids and conveniences, as may conduce to the interest and profit of 
the exercises; but no fee shall be charged any membei for attend¬ 
ance on the same : Provided , That no money shall be paid out of the 
Treasury or Common School Fund in support of such Institute. The 
Superintendent of Public Instruction may print the proceedings of 
said Association and Institute in his annual reports. 

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE STATE TEACHERS* 
ASSOCIATION OF KENTUCKY. 

Organized at Lexington, August i, 1875. 

PREAMBLE. 

To promote the cause of Common Schools and pop¬ 
ular education, to elevate the character, and advance 
the interests of the profession of teaching, and in pur- 


68 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

suance of an act of the Legislature of Kentucky, we, 
whose names are hereunto subjoined, do agree to form 
ourselves into a society to be styled the Teachers* 
Association of Kentucky. That peace, harmony, and 
efficiency may characterize our proceedings, we bind 
ourselves to be governed by the following 

CONSTITUTION. 

Art. i. The membership of this Association shall 
consist of such gentlemen and ladies as may be occu¬ 
pied in teaching in a public, private, or common school, 
academy, college, or university, or as an editor of an 
educational journal, Superintendent of Public Instruc¬ 
tion, County Commissioner, or of any other persons 
provided for by the aforesaid legislative enactment. 
[At the annual meeting of the teachers of each county 
in Institute or Association, they shall elect a delegate 
to the State Association. Where a delegate cannot 
come, he may send a proxy to any person, who may 
vote for him on all amendments to the constitution and 
by-laws, and upon all recommendations to the Legisla¬ 
ture.]* 

Art. 2. The officers of this Association shall consist 
of a President, and of two additional Vice Presidents, 
and a Secretary, annually elected by the Association, 
whose duties shall be in accordance with such usage as 
is customary in bodies of the kind. 

Art. 3. It shall be the duty of the President, or such 
executive committees as he may designate, at each meet¬ 
ing, to appoint committees or persons to prepare papers 
or addresses to be submitted or delivered at next meet¬ 
ing of the Association, on such subjects as may be 


♦That portion of article 1 inclosed in brackets is an amendment adopted in 1873. 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 69 

deemed best calculated to promote the interests of edu¬ 
cation and the profession. 

Art. 4. The meetings of this Association shall be held 
annually, commencing on the first Tuesday in August, 
at such places as the Association may from time to time 
select. 

Art. 5. Any person being eligible, may become a 
member of this Association by application to the Secre¬ 
tary, and signing the constitution. 

*Art. 6. Upon all changes of the constitution and 
by-laws, and all recommendations to the Legislature, 
the vote shall be upon a call of counties and wards; and 
each county and ward shall be entitled to one vote. 
The cities of the Commonwealth shall be entitled to a 
representative for each ward. 

Art. 7. Teachers and Common School officers from 
other States may be invited to seats, to participate in 
discussions, but will not be entitled in any case to vote. 

Art. 8. This constitution may be altered or amended 
by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any 
time, provided there is nothing proposed in the altera¬ 
tion subversive of the organization,- or in conflict with 
the laws of Kentucky. 

BY-LAWS. 

Art. 1. After a proper lecture or address has been 
regularly received by the Association, it shall be subject 
to discussion, provided that no speaker shall occupy 
more than fifteen minutes, or speak twice on the same 
subject, until all the members of the body shall have an 
opportunity to speak; and no paper, lecture, or address 
shall be allowed to appear in the published proceedings 
that has not been regularly adopted after discussion. 


* Article 6 is an amendment adopted in 1873. 



70 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Art. 2. The annual and daily sessions shall be opened 
with such devotional religious exercises as may be indi¬ 
cated by the President. 

Art. 3. It shall be considered discourteous for any 
member to leave the Association before adjournment, 
without giving due notice to the President and Secre¬ 
tary. 

1. The officers, as at present constituted (1876-7), 
are H. A. M. Henderson, President; Col. R. D. Al¬ 
len, Vice President; and W. H. Bartholomew, Secre¬ 
tary. 

2. The committees are: 1. An executive committee, 
charged with making all the necessary arrangements for 
the meetings, with the power to select a local committee 
of arrangements at the place where the annual meeting 
is to be held; to arrange transportation rates, and to 
perform such other duties as may from time to time be 
relegated to it. 2. A committee on programme, to 
arrange the character and order of exercises to be en¬ 
gaged in at each annual meeting. 

3. No fee is charged for membership. 

4. A portion of the institute fees can be employed to 
defray the expenses of a delegate elected by the teach¬ 
ers. 

5. It is customary for the President to invite repre¬ 
sentative friends of education, not engaged in the pro¬ 
fession, to seats and participation in the discussions, but 
they are not entitled to a vote. 

Article IV.— Superintendent . 

$ I. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall take the oath 
and enter upon the duties of his office on the first Monday succeeding 
the inauguration of the Governor. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


71 


§ 2. His salary shall be three thousand dollars per annum; besides 
which, he shall be entitled to all office fixtures, stationery, books, 
postage, and fuel needed to carry on the work of his office. He 
shall have power to appoint a clerk, who shall be paid a salary of 
twelve hundred dollars. 


Remark. 

The Superintendent is not allowed any traveling ex¬ 
penses, nor does he receive any perquisites. 

§ 3. He shall keep his office at the seat of government, in such 
suitable building as may be provided, and shall devote his entire 
time and attention to the duties of his office. 

§ 4. He shall keep an account of all the orders drawn or counter¬ 
signed by him on the Auditor, of all the returns of settlements, and 
of all changes in the office of Commissioner, which shall be furnished 
to the Auditor whenever required. 

§ 5. He shall, annually, by the 15th day of October, make report 
of the condition, progress, and prospects of the Common Schools; 
the amount and condition of the School Fund ; how its revenue for 
the previous school year has been distributed ; the amount produced 
and disbursed for Common School purposes from local taxation, or 
other sources, and how and for what the same was expended; an 
abstract of the County Commissioners’ reports ; the practical work¬ 
ings of the Common School System of the State, with suggestions as 
to any alterations it may require ; all of which, together with such 
other facts, statistics, and information as may be deemed of interest 
to be known, he shall deliver to the Public Printer, and cause to be 
printed a copy for each school district in the State, and two hund¬ 
red and fifty copies for the use of the members of the Legislature, 
and for exchange with the Superintendents of Public Instruction of 
other States. 

Remarks. 

I. It is the duty of the Commissioner to furnish each 
Trustee of his county with a copy of the Superintend¬ 
ent’s Report, and the Trustee must regard it as public 
property , to be taken care of and turned over to his 
successor in office. The Commissioner has no right 
to give them to others than Trustees. The report is 


7 2 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


intended to be educative, and, if carefully read, will 
furnish .many suggestions to school officers as to the 
proper conduct of the system. The copy furnished the 
Commissioner is public property, and must be kept and 
turned over to his successor. 

2. The Superintendent generally retains a few copies, 
which he can furnish upon application, though the edi¬ 
tion is inadequate to anything like an indiscriminate dis¬ 
tribution. 

3. Bound copies of the various Superintendent’s Re¬ 
ports are kept in the Superintendent’s office library, and 
are accessible to persons desiring to inspect them for 
information, but cannot be carried away. Copies of the 
Reports of the Superintendents of other States may 
also be consulted in the Superintendent’s library. 

§ 6. The Superintendent, in his annual report, shall set forth the 
objects, methods of admission, etc., to the various eleemosynary edu¬ 
cational institutions of the State, namely: the Institutions for the 
Blind, the Deaf and Dumb, and the Feeble-minded ; and to aid him 
in this work, the Superintendents of those institutions shall be 
required, annually, by the first day of September, to furnish the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction with such a condensed state¬ 
ment of their respective institutions as it would be profitable to pub¬ 
lish. 

Remarks. 

1. The Institution for the Blind is located near Louis¬ 
ville, B. B. Huntoon, Superintendent, to whom all com¬ 
munications should be addressed. In it every child in 
the State, whose eyesight is so defective that it cannot 
obtain an education in the ordinary schools, can receive 
appropriate instruction free. The State charges the 
parents of the pupils nothing for board or tuition; and, 
in cases of destitution, provides clothing for the sight¬ 
less little ones while they are in school. The yearly 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


73 


school session begins on the first Monday in September, 
and closes on the third Friday in June. Children are 
permitted to receive instruction for seven years; and 
the Trustees of the school are authorized, if they see 
fit, to extend the time in the case of meritorious pupils. 

The course of instruction embraces everything taught 
in the Common Schools; and, in addition, special tui¬ 
tion is given in music and in various branches of handi¬ 
craft. 

The boys are taught how to make brooms, various 
kinds of mattresses, general upholstering work, and how 
to cane chairs, with the solid or the open seat. The 
girls are taught to knit, to sew, to do various kinds of 
fancy work, and to use the sewing machine. 

The conditions for admission are very few. Any 
child, whose sight is so defective that it cannot learn 
in the ordinary schools, if within the ages of six and 
sixteen, of good health and sound mind, will be gladly 
received. If the eyes are affected in such a way that 
the disease is not apparent, the certificate of a physi¬ 
cian, stating the condition of the eyes, is required. 

2. “The Institution for the Education and Training 
of Feeble-Minded Children” is located upon a com¬ 
manding summit, overlooking the city of Frankfort. 
By an act approved February 23d, 1874, this Institu¬ 
tion was reconstructed. Its purpose is clearly defined 
in the seventeenth section, viz: “It is distinctly avowed 
in this act that said Institution is not an asylum for the 
custodial care of unimprovable idiots, but a school for 
the education of feeble-minded children.” Children of 
this character, between the ages of six and eighteen, 
are entitled to the benefits of the Institution without 
7 


74 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

charge; and to all children who have not the means 
of transportation, the expense will be defrayed by the 
State, as ‘ * now provided by law for the transportation 
of pauper lunatics.” The term of residence by this act 
in the Institution is limited to “ten years;” but “may 
be removed at any time by order of the Board, when¬ 
ever the interest of the Institution, in their judgment, 
shall require the same to be done.” The object of the 
Institution is to confer the largest possible benefit; and 
those intrusted with its care will rejoice in seeing it filled 
to its utmost capacity with pupils of the class contem¬ 
plated in its purposes. Those desiring more explicit 
information will address Dr. E. H. Black, Superintend¬ 
ent, Frankfort, Kentucky; and officers of the School 
System are hereby enjoined to make known the privi¬ 
leges and benefits of this Institution to all who would be 
the proper subjects of its beneficent instruction. 

3. The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb is located 
at Danville. It was established by legislative enactment 
in 1823, and has been in successful operation for fifty- 
three years, and annually dispensing blessings to those 
afflicted with a double privation—the loss of hearing 
and speech. Those greatly mistake the character of 
the Institution who suppose that it is a mere asylum 
for a class of unfortunates, and that the Superintendent 
is the mere hired custodian of those who, by reason of 
a birth infirmity, are incapable of taking care of them¬ 
selves. This view is degrading to the purpose of the 
State in founding it, and humiliating to the pupils who 
enjoy its benefits. 

It is a school for the training of the senses and facul¬ 
ties of the mind. Two great powers being denied, it 
is the constant effort of the faculty to compensate for 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


7 5 


the loss or negation of these by rendering sight and 
touch more acute. Ideas can be communicated to the 
mind, and drawn out of it, by intelligible signs as well 
as by articulate speech. Letters and combinations of 
words are mere arbitrary and conventional signs, whether 
oral or written. By a system of conventional finger-let¬ 
ters, the dumb can talk and the deaf understand as well 
as others. 

The session begins on the first day of October, and 
closes on the 15th day of July. The vacation period, 
therefore, includes two months and a half of vacation’, 
thus giving the pupils ample opportunity to visit their 
friends. Every deaf-mute in Kentucky, of sound mind 
and body, is privileged to receive all the benefits of this 
institution, without charge for board or tuition, for a 
term of seven years. The branches of study pursued 
are reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, 
history, natural history, physiology, the Bible, etc. 

Guardians or parents of deaf-mutes wishing to place 
them in the Institution should address J. A. Jacobs, 
Principal, Danville, Kentucky. Prof. Jacobs is the au¬ 
thor of several text-books, designed for mutes; but, 
from personal scrutiny, I am prepared to say that they 
are singularly suggestive to all teachers who pursue the 
object method, and who recognize the value of cultivat¬ 
ing the faculty of observation. 

“The Deaf Mute” is the name of a spicy little peri¬ 
odical published by the pupils. The editing and print¬ 
ing are both done in the school. Those who feel an 
interest in encouraging the unfortunate in laudable enter¬ 
prises, would do well to subscribe for this paper, the 
annual price of which is but a trifle. 


7 


76 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

4. The Agricultural and Mechanical College is located 
near Lexington. It is an institution belonging to the 
State, with an endowment fund given by the Govern¬ 
ment, and with the splendid estate of Ashland, the 
homestead of Henry Clay, donated chiefly by citizens 
of Fayette county, as a site for its operations. It has 
a full corps of able Professors, and a liberal course of 
study, embracing English literature, mathematics, civil 
history, physical geography, geology, botany, physiol¬ 
ogy, mineralogy, chemistry, natural philosophy, moral 
and mental philosophy, civil and political economy, 
civil engineering and mining, French, German, military 
science, meteorology, telegraphy, practical agriculture, 
horticulture and mechanical arts, thus affording ample 
facilities for practical, scientific, or technical education. 

Students desiring to pursue Latin and Greek have ac¬ 
cess to the classes in these and other branches in the 
College of Arts, free of cost for tuition. 

It is an institution emphatically for the great masses 
of the people, and is largely attended by many of the 
best young men of the West and South. 

Under the charter, each county or legislative district 
is entitled to send three properly prepared students, free 
of charge for tuition. 

Young men desiring to enter the College as State 
students, under this provision, will be received upon the 
recommendation of the county judge, until their appoint¬ 
ment can be ratified by the magistrates at their quarterly 
court. 

A Preparatory Department is provided for the benefit 
of students, not less than fourteen years of age, who 
wish to enter the regular classes, and a Summer School 
is conducted through the vacation of three months, for 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


77 

the benefit of those who wish to continue their studies, 
and to enjoy a pleasant home. 

The session begins on the second Monday in Sep¬ 
tember, and continues nine months; but students are 
received at any time. 

The entire necessary expenses, including fees, fuel, 
lights, washing, and good comfortable boarding in the 
clubs or dormitories, need not exceed $150 for the col¬ 
legiate year. Such young men as desire it, can defray 
a portion of these expenses by laboring four hours pef 
day on the farm or in the shops. 

Military instruction and discipline constitute a part of 
the regime of this College, and is under the direction of 
a regular United States officer. 

§ 7. Copies of records and papers in his office, certified by him, 
shall, in all cases, be evidence equally with the originals. 

§ 8. He shall prepare suitable blanks for reports, registers, certifi¬ 
cates, notices, and such other official documents as may be provided 
for in this chapter, and shall cause the same, with such instructions 
and information as he may deem necessary to a proper understanding 
and use of them, to be transmitted to the officers and persons inter¬ 
ested with the execution of the provisions' of the school law. 

Remarks. 

1. We have endeavored to reduce this department to 
system, and to this end have remodeled nearly all the 
blanks. We have furnished each Commissioner with a 
book large enough for four years’ business, and, if faith¬ 
fully and properly kept, will be a perfect record of the 
census, and annual reports, and settlements of the Com¬ 
missioner, and contain a record of the boundaries of 
the several districts, and a journal of all the miscella¬ 
neous acts of the Commissioner. All persons having 
interest in the School System have the right of access, 


78 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


when seeking information, to this book. ( See section io, 

article 5.) 

2. We have prepared as a counterpart to the above 
a Teacher’s Register and Report, composed as follows: 
1. Pupils enrolled. 2. Daily attendance, and average at¬ 
tendance for the month. 3. Term report of the teacher. 
4. Annual report of the District Trustee. 5. Teacher’s 
receipt to the Commissioner. 6. Form of agreement 
between the teacher and Trustee. 

To it is attached the following instructions: “The 
necessity of securing accurate statistics leads the Su¬ 
perintendent to invent the plan contained in this book. 
The law requires the Commissioner to ‘ conform to such 
reasonable rules and requirements as the Superintendent 
shall prescribe and announce to them.’ ( See article 5, 
section 20.) It also makes it the duty of each teacher to 
keep such a register of the school as the Commissioner 
may require, and within ten days after the close of the 
session to report certain statistics and information; and 
if he neglect or fail to do this, the Commissioner shall 
withhold twenty dollars of his salary due, for the benefit 
of the district. ( See article 8, section 4.) Now, if the 
Commissioner and teachers and Trustees will respect the 
Superintendent’s plan (easier than the old system), we 
shall be able to obtain exact information with regard to 
the workings of our School System. When the school 
is half taught out, let the Trustee give the teacher a 
certificate of the fact, upon which he will draw forty per 

cent, of his pay on the 10th of January. When the 
school is completed, let the teacher and Trustee each 
make out his report on the respective blanks in this 

book, and the teacher return it to the Commissioner, 
when he will receive the remainder of his pay. Let the 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


79 


teacher understand that the law provides for a forty per 
cent, payment the ioth of January and a sixty per cent, 
payment the 15th of February. The reason of this, as 
the school revenues are collected the current year, the 
money is not in the Treasury to make earlier and larger 
payments. Twenty-two days of actual teaching consti¬ 
tute a school month; and let the teacher be careful to 
keep his record of attendance for the number of days 
he teaches in each month. Thus, if he begins on the 
20th day of January, let him, under the head of that 
month, register only the number of days taught there¬ 
in. In making out his averages, I submit the following 
rule: add together the number of pupils present each 
day, and divide the same by the number of days the 
school was in session. At the close of the term, let the 
teacher take his book to the Trustee and get him to fill 
out and subscribe to his report.” 

Were this regulation strictly enforced, the statistical 
returns to the Superintendent’s office would be perfect, 
the entire school business would be systematized, and 
the Commissioner would have under cover, for easy and 
neat filing, the entire business of each school district in 
his county. 

3. In signing drafts, the county judges should require 
the Commissioner to bring the boundary of each district, 
contained in his register, before him. In one county a 
Commissioner for. years had been reporting fictitious 
districts by number, and drawing money for them, 
which he appropriated to his own use. He was finally 
detected in this and other fraudulent transactions, was 
arrested, put under bond for his appearance at court, 
and absconded, forfeiting his bail on the day of trial. 


8o 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Thus the State was defrauded, and the culprit escaped 
the penalty due his offenses. 

\ 9. He may exchange with Superintendents of other States copies 
of the school reports and other documents pertaining to his depart¬ 
ment, for similar reports and documents of such other State; and 
may send copies of said school reports to such literary institutions 
as, in his discretion, he may select. 

§ 10. It shall be his duty to report any habitual neglect of duty, or 
any misappropriation of Common School funds on the part of any 
of the Commissioners or Trustees of Common Schools in this Com¬ 
monwealth, to the county judge of any county in which such neglect 
of duty or such misappropriation of funds may occur, whenever such 
neglect of duty or such misappropriation of funds shall come to his 
knowledge. 

Remark. 

Of course the object of this is to induce the ap¬ 
pointment of a more faithful officer, and if the offense 
requires punishment, to take the necessary preliminary 
steps to its infliction. County judges are referred to 
sections 13 and 17, article 5, for a detail of the charac¬ 
ter of offenses, the mode of procedure, and the punish¬ 
ment due them when committed. 

§ 11. He shall have published, for annual distribution throughout 
the State, the general school laws of the State, the decisions of the 
Attorney General on points of school law, and construction thereof; 
information and instructions in regard to application of the school 
law, and the management of the Common Schools; plates, illustra¬ 
tions, and descriptions of appropriate school architecture; important 
official and legal periods of the school year, with due notices thereof; 
and such other important facts and data as may be of interest to the 
department. 

Remarks. 

I. The Superintendent has prepared an elaborate 
Manual of School Architecture, profusely illustrated, 
in which numerous perspective and linear views of 
school-houses, plans and specifications, bills of material, 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


81 


and estimates of cost are given. The site, warming, 
lighting, ventilating, furnishing, and school aids are dis¬ 
cussed. This book will be furnished by the Commis¬ 
sioner or Superintendent upon application, without cost, 
to the Trustee of any district in which it is proposed to 
build, repair, or furnish a school-house. 

2. The Superintendent’s Annual Reports contain di¬ 
gests of the decisions and various instruction to school 
officers, but observation has led to the conclusion that 
very many are unable to apply them to the text of the 
law and the varying circumstances of school administra¬ 
tion, and suggested the preparation of this commentary. 

§ 12. In cases of controverted right to the office of Commissioner, 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction is empowered to recognize 
a Commissioner from among the contestants until the case has been 
litigated. 

Remarks. 

1. The general rule, adopted and followed by the 
Superintendent in such cases, has been to recognize the 
incumbent (if involved in the contest), until the matter 
is litigated. 

2. The usual method of procedure in such cases is by 
a writ quo warranto. 

§ 13. In all questions of law that may arise in the discharge of the 
duties of his office, the opinion of the Attorney General, in writing, 
shall be conclusive for the time, and his sufficient defense against all 
parties; which opinion shall be filed in his office, and recorded in a 
book kept for that purpose. 

Remarks. 

1. It is frequently the case that the Superintendent 
refers doubtful questions to the Attorney General, and 
is governed by his opinion, until otherwise advised by 
the decision of a competent court. 


8 2 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


2. When other parties secure the opinion of the At¬ 
torney General, the Superintendent employs his own 
judgment as to whether or not he will be governed 
thereby, as the Collins’ History case, where he acted 
adversely, and was afterwards sustained in his position 
by the judgment of the circuit court and decision of the 
Court of Appeals. 

3. Persons desiring the opinion of the Attorney Gen¬ 
eral upon school matters should always address their 
inquiries to that officer through the Superintendent. 

§ 14. Upon retiring from office, the Superintendent shall deliver to 
his successor all the books, papers, and effects belonging to the office, 
and, on failure to do so, shall be fined in a sum not less than one 
hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, to be recovered by in¬ 
dictment in the Franklin circuit court. 

Article V .—County Commissioners. 

§ 1. There shall be a Commissioner of Common Schools in each of 
the counties of the State, who shall be possessed of moral character 
and ability to manage the Common School interests of the county 
efficiently. He shall possess a good English education, and shall 
be competent to examine the teachers who shall apply to teach the 
Common Schools in the county, and to correctly certify the same. 
In addition to the Commissioner for the county of Jefferson, there 
shall be one for the city of Louisville, who shall be elected by the 
general council of said city during the month of November, 1874, 
and biennially thereafter; the duties of said Commissioner within 
said city shall be the same as those prescribed for other Commission¬ 
ers, and his compensation shall be fixed by said city council, and 
paid out of the city treasury. 

Remarks. 

I. By “good moral character” is meant freedom from 
all those vices reprobated by virtuous society, and the 
possession of a reasonable degree of those positive quali¬ 
ties which serve to make a man useful as a citizen, kind 
as a neighbor, and an example unto the young. No man 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


83 


addicted to the habitual use of ardent spirits, and who 
is profane or licentious, should be elected to this office, 
for his influence must be pernicious upon the young 
over whose educational interests he is officially set. 

2. “By ability to manage, &c.,” is meant the posses¬ 
sion of executive power. This implies independence 
and firmness of character. One who has no opinions of 
his own, but who can never act until others are con¬ 
sulted, and who is in constant dread of “what people 
will say,” and who is so capricious that no reliance can 
be placed upon his execution of his plans, is not fit for 
the office. He should be a man capable of originating 
schemes that will elevate the system. He should be 
well posted in the laws, and their exposition by those 
authorized to interpret them, and faithful in their execu¬ 
tion. He should be able to keep, in a business , clerk¬ 
like manner, the book furnished him for the systema¬ 
tizing of his business. The Commissioner is much more 
than a mere disbursing agent and statistician. His duty 
is to visit schools; to study the improved methods of 
instruction and discipline, so as to be able to instruct and 
advise teachers in the science and art of teaching; to 
counsel Trustees and teachers concerning the conduct of 
their districts and schools; to organize efficiently the 
Teachers’ Institutes; to encourage the building of school- 
houses and the furnishing of the same; to expound the 
benefits of local taxation, and show the people the su¬ 
periority of teachers trained for their work over mere 
schoolmasters who have assumed the station as a tem¬ 
porary expedient, and in every possible way consistent 
with reason to elevate the standard of education. He 
should by speech, private and public, endeavor to in¬ 
spirit the people with educational enterprise, to stimu- 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


84 

late his subalterns with ardent zeal, and to convince 
parents that their highest interest is wrapped up in the 
education of their children. He should be a man of 
architectural taste, and acquainted with the laws of hy¬ 
giene as applied to the construction of school-houses. 
The duties that relate to a well-ordered county superin¬ 
tendency require an educated, skillful, and judicious 
officer. A lawyer, merchant, or artisan may perform the 
mere mechanical service of distributing blanks, receiv¬ 
ing reports, tabulating statistics, and disbursing money. 
This is simply the frame-work of the system. If we 
would impart muscle, nerve power, vascularity, in a 
word, Life , we must have unstained character, talent, 
prudence, taste, public spirit, faith, and skill combined 
and utilized in a County Commissioner. He should be 
an ardent friend of popular education, and a firm be¬ 
liever in the capability of the system to meet the public 
wants in the matter of education. It is a mockery to 
place in the position one bankrupt of faith in the Com¬ 
mon School System, hardly excelled by the folly which 
would trust a discharged felon as cashier of a bank. If 
he is a croaker, instead of an advocate and apologist of 
the system, he will create distrust, discourage the friends 
of education, and spread the leaven of discontent and 
mutiny among the people wherever he goes. He can 
have but little respect for himself who, for the paltry 
pay, would accept the position, when at heart unfriendly 
to the system he is set to foster. In vain will the Su¬ 
perintendent of the State issue circulars of instruction if 
the County Commissioners will not carry them out. If 
irregularities are winked at, errors in classification, grad¬ 
ing, and discipline are tolerated without protest, vicious 
arrangements of studies and modes of instruction are 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


35 


permitted to exist, and contempt of law is allowed, with¬ 
out even fear of punishment, then it is a misnomer to 
call our educational work a “system.” If the provis¬ 
ions of the law were fully respected by the Court of 
Claims when sitting to elect a Commissioner, we would 
have active and efficient co-laborers in every county— 
lieutenants ready to promptly co-operate with the State 
Superintendent in executing plans for improvement, 
counsellors whose advice Trustees and teachers would 
confidently seek, and judges prepared to expound the 
law, and readily settle all difficulties and untangle all per¬ 
plexities. Then the examination for certificates would 
be rigidly conducted, and careful preparations would be 
made to organize and conduct Teachers’ Institutes, and 
efforts made to bring out the people to see who is able 
to instruct, who willing to learn, and what is the quality 
of the man fit for the responsible office of an instructor 
of youth. And when the time arrived for the annual 
reports, the capital office would have prompt, full, and 
symmetrical statistics from which to tabulate the State 
Report, and thus the General Assembly and the citi¬ 
zens would be supplied with close, accurate, and relia¬ 
ble data upon which to formulate an opinion as to the 
progress and worth of the system. 

3 By a “good English education” is meant knowl¬ 
edge of all the branches taught in the Common Schools, 
viz: spelling, reading, mental and practical arithmetic, 
geography, grammar, composition, and history, and 
also capacity to examine teachers upon the same, with 
the end in view of correctly grading the certificates of 
applicants. 

Where the Court of Claims is not satisfied as to the 
learning of an applicant, it is competent for it to appoint 


86 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


a Commissioner to examine the candidate as to his qual¬ 
ifications for the office. 

Should the court elect an incompetent person, his 
right to the office may be tested by a writ quo warranto. 

It will be seen that, for this office, the very best and 
most experienced educational men, whose services can 
be engaged, should be elected—practical teachers to be 
preferred, all other things being equal. In every county 
of the State there is an ample field, “white for the har¬ 
vest,” in which the ablest and strongest man could find 
employment for all his time and capacities, and yet not 
compass the work that might be profitably performed. 
The notion that this office can be successfully filled by 
any man, in connection with any other profession or occu¬ 
pation, is an erroneous one. To perform the duties of 
Commissioner efficiently, demands as much time, labor, 
talent, and responsibility, as to discharge the duties of 
any other county office. But it is useless to expect to 
obtain the kind of ability and service required until the 
pay is something like commensurate with the character 
of the talent and toil involved in a faithful incumbency 
of the office. As it is, no man can take the office, and 
do its duties effectively, unless he has some other means 
of support. In some counties the Court of Claims have 
increased the salary, and paid it out of the county levy; 
and in such instances the results have justified the exper¬ 
iment. If every county would appropriate a sufficient 
sum to pay a good man for his whole time, and then 
demand that he shall earn his salary by faithful labor 
and intelligent enterprise, the schools would grow in im¬ 
portance so rapidly that every friend of education would 
rejoice. It is, perhaps, competent for a county court to 
supplement the State salary of the Commissioner, and it 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 8 / 

is to be hoped that in time every county will secure the 
ablest supervision by this means. 

§ 2. The Commissioners shall be elected by the presiding judge 
and justices of the peace of each county at the Court of Claims to 
be held in the county in the year 1874, and every two years there¬ 
after; and for the purpose of holding such election, the justices of 
the peace in the city of Newport, Campbell county, and the city of 
Covington, Kenton county, shall constitute a part of the Court of 
Claims. The Commissioners now in office shall occupy the office for 
the full time for which they were elected. 

Remarks. 

1. The election must be held at the regular annual 
session of the Court of Claims. The court may adjourn 
to a specific day for the election of a Commissioner. 
Should the election at the specified time not occur, the 
Commissioner in office will hold over until the next 
annual session. The Commissioner, when elected, will 
hold office for two years, unless it is specifically under¬ 
stood and recorded that he is elected to fill out an unex¬ 
pired term. 

2. The county judge, in common with the justices, 
has a vote. Should there be a tie, the county judge 
cannot vote again. In such a case, there would be no 
election, and the Commissioner in office would hold 
over until the next annual session. Should there be a 
tie, when the election is held at the regular annual ses¬ 
sion, that vote is decisive for the year, and the court 
cannot adjourn to a specified date for the purpose of 
taking another vote. In the election, the court should 
determine, before voting, whether it will elect by major¬ 
ity or plurality. 

For full information in the duties and prerogatives of 
county judges, see chapter in Appendix. 


88 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

g 3. A county judge or justice of the peace shall not be eligible to 
the office of Commissioner of Common Schools. 

Remark. 

The propriety of this is manifest when it is considered 
that the county judge is the auditor of the Commission¬ 
er’s accounts. Neither is a justice of the peace eligible 
to the office of a trustee. 

§ 4. The Commissioner shall, before entering upon the discharge 
of the duties of his office, take the oath of office, and enter into cov¬ 
enant before the county court of his county, to the Commonwealth 
of Kentucky, with sufficient security, to be approved by the court, 
for the faithful discharge of his duties. 

Remarks. 

1. Should county judges neglect to require a bond, 
and should afterward certify Commissioner’s drafts upon 
the Auditor to the Superintendent, and the funds so 
drawn should be misapplied, the judge would render 
himself liable. The bond should be taken and filed in 
the office of the county clerk, and a certified copy for¬ 
warded, with the certificate of election, to the Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction. This latter is not legally 
required, but it would be a precaution desirable to be 
taken. The bond should be for a sum large enough to 
cover all the money that will come into his hands. 

Should a security become bankrupt, the county judge 
should immediately require another responsible name on. 
the covenant. 

2. Though a County Commissioner should forge the 
name of a county judge or clerk, his securities would 
be responsible if he should misuse the funds. It is his 
honesty that they covenant with him to the Common¬ 
wealth. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 89 

For form of bond, see chapter in Appendix entitled 
“Duties of County Judges.” 

$ 5. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county court, immedi¬ 
ately after the election of the Commissioner, to certify such election 
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and on failure to do so 
for thirty days, he shall be fined a sum not exceeding fifty dollars. 

Remarks. 

1. The Superintendent furnishes a form for this pur¬ 
pose, which the clerk should use in all cases, as it is a 
“suitable blank for certificates,” prepared in obedience 
to section 8 of article 4, chapter 18, of General Statutes. 

2. It is desirable that the clerk attach the county 
seal, as the Superintendent cannot be expected to be, 
in all cases, familiar with the signatures of the clerks 
and judges. There is no legal exaction for this. The 
Court of Claims may pay the fee for attaching the seal. 

Section 5 of article 1 clearly implies that the fee may 
be paid out of the county levy. 

3. The Superintendent will in no case recognize a 
Commissioner unless legally certified as elected and 
sworn into office. 

§ 6. The Commissioner shall have power to lay off, alter, or abolish 
districts, and, if necessary, may lay off anew the districts throughout 
the county. He shall, at least once during the year, visit each dis¬ 
trict school of his county, and investigate and direct the operations 
of the School System, and promote, by addresses or otherwise, the 
cause of Common School education. 

Remarks. 

I. The Commissioner, under cover of the authority 
given him “to lay of districts,” cannot transfer pupils 
that have been reported in one district to another. No 
change can be made in the boundary of a district after 
8 


9° 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


the census has been reported. Where two districts ad¬ 
join, the Trustee of each can agree to transfer a pupil; 
and in such case the money will be due the teacher of 
the district in which the child is taught. 

2. All appeals from the action of a Commissioner in 
changing the boundary of a district must be made within 
thirty days after such action is taken, or it will not be 
entertained by the State Board of Education. All such 
appeals should be accompanied with a diagram of the 
district, that the members of the Board may better un¬ 
derstand its geography. 

3. The acts of a Commissioner in changing district 
boundaries are so far discretionary that the State Board 
will affirm them on appeal, unless it is clearly shown 
that there has been an abuse of prerogative, or that 
they are illegal, or that manifest injustice will result 
therefrom. 

4. In changing boundaries,' both the present and pros¬ 
pective welfare of the district should be considered. 

5. It is necessary to notify the Trustees of all districts 
that will be affected by a change of the purpose to make 
it, and that thus an opportunity be given the parties to 
present their objections, and, if not satisfied with the 
action of the Commissioner, to appeal to the State 
Board. (See section 1, article 6.) The want of notice 
is waived by the voluntary appearance of the party for 
any purpose connected with the change. 

6. The districts are to be numbered in a regular 
series, and accurately described by unmistakable bound¬ 
ary lines, and all alterations made therein should be 
recorded in the Commissioner’s book. 

7. The Commissioner has not power to alter a district 
constituted by special legislative enactment. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


91 


8. In case of a fractional district a Commissioner can¬ 
not reclaim territory once ceded unless he obtains the 
consent of the Commissioner of the county in which the 
school-house is located. Should a new school-house be 
built, and the site changed from the one county into the 
other, that will change the district to the county within 
which the school-house stands. 

9. Care should be taken not to multiply districts, and 
fractional districts should be avoided whenever possible. 

10. In the formation of districts, Commissioners, after 
hearing objections, have absolute discretion, and are not 
obliged to be governed by the petitions of citizens; but 
they should never refuse to show a wise regard for the 
wishes of the people. They should never yield, how¬ 
ever, to a demand for the erection of small districts for 
the temporary accommodation of a few, at the expense 
of many. 

11. In laying off districts, regard should be had to 
the convenience of attending schools, the number of 
scholars, the valuation of property, and ability to pro¬ 
vide school-houses, etc. It will always be expedient to 
bound them by streams, roads, or other natural bound¬ 
aries, when practicable. When the lines can, without 
inconvenience, be so drawn as to include all of any per¬ 
son’s farm in the same district where his dwelling-house 
is, it will save a great deal of trouble in the assessment 
of taxes. 

12. It is not sufficient to declare that a district shall 
be composed of such and such persons. The Supreme 
Court of Massachusetts has declared such districts to be 
invalid. (7 Pick., 106, and 12 Pick., 206.) 

13. A Commissioner cannot visit the schools by 
proxy. He must go in person. 


9 2 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


14. It is deemed competent for the Court of Claims 
to make an appropriation of money to aid the Commis¬ 
sioner in districting the county; and as nothing con¬ 
tributes more to localizing interest and securing good 
school-houses than permanent boundaries, it is desirable 
that great care be exercised in districting a county, and 
this involves a large expenditure of time, and a close 
examination of the geography of the country, and the 
distribution of population and wealth. 

15. Visitation —It is the duty of the Commissioner to 
visit each school at least once during its session, and it 
is the performance of this duty that entitles him to the 
three dollars pay. When a Commissioner proposes to 
visit a school, he should (unless there are special reasons 
making an opposite course desirable) give the Trustee 
and teacher several days’ notice in advance, that those 
who may desire to hear him or communicate with him 
may have the opportunity of meeting him at the school- 
house. Upon the occasion of this visit he should inquire 
whether the rules and regulations are being conformed 
to, observe the condition of the school-house, confer 
with the Trustee with regard to the educational interests 
of the district, and, whenever practicable, address the 
patrons and endeavor to excite them to interest in the 
affairs of the school. Should he undertake the conduct 
of the school, he should be careful to protect the teacher 
from all cause of humiliation before his pupils; and what¬ 
ever suggestions he may desire to make, which he deems 
conducive to improvement in the methods of instruction 
or discipline, should be communicated privately. The 
Commissioner in his addresses should seek to quiet all 
discontent, and to solve all difficulties that may exist in 
the district. He should direct attention to local taxa- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 93 

tion as a method by which to improve the quality and 
to extend the time of the Common School. 

§7. It shall be the duty of each Commissioner, on or before the 
first day of June of each year, to prepare, mail to, and cause to be 
placed in the hands of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a 
report certified by the county judge or clerk as having been sworn to 
by him, showing the whole number of white children between the 
ages of six and twenty years residing in his county, and the whole 
number residing in each district, described by its number, of his 
county. He shall base his report upon the census taken during the 
month of April, and reports thereof made to him by the District 
Trustees. If such reports are not in from any district by the loth 
day of May, the Commissioner shall appoint a suitable person to take 
the census of such district, who shall be paid a reasonable compensa¬ 
tion for his services, out of the amount due that district for the next 
school year. 

Remarks. 

1. Every white child over six years of age and under 
twenty has a legal and indefeasible right to the privileges 
and benefits of the Common School in the district in 
which he lives. 

2. Married people under twenty years of age are 
entitled to be reported. If the children of the county 
poor-house or an orphanage are admitted to the district 
school, they should be included in the census. 

3. If a person remove from another State, his children 
may be reported in the census, though he cannot have 
citizenship until resident two years in the State. But 
should he remove after the census has been reported, 
and his children attend the district school, he may be 
charged for their tuition. 

4. Should a person refuse to give the names of his 
children to the Trustee taking the census, it is the duty 
of the Trustee to ascertain from other sources the num¬ 
ber of children of school age and their names , for the 


94 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


district has an interest in the matter. Such contumacy 
should be rebuked by an indignant public sentiment. 

5. A Case .—A portion of a district was cut off to 
form a new one, and, after the census had been taken, 
it was discovered that the proceedings were illegal. In 
consequence thereof no school-house was built. The 
Trustee then permitted the pupils that were cut off to 
come to school in their old district, although they had 
not been reported in its census. The question is, if the 
Trustee will get their names and report, can they be 
drawn for? No. After an apportionment table is made 
out, the Superintendent has no surplus from which he 
would be enabled to honor such a draft. If a new dis¬ 
trict was reported, including these children, then its 
Trustee might consent that they should go to school 
in an adjoining district; and if the Trustee and teacher 
thereof agreed to receive them in their school, a draft 
might be drawn, accompanied by a statement of the 
facts, and they could be paid for from the funds appor¬ 
tioned to the new district in which no school was taught. 

6. It is not necessary for a citizen removing from one 
district to another in the State to reside sixty days in the 
district before sending his children to a Common School. 
He enjoys this privilege from the time of removal. He 
is, however, entitled to but five months’ free tuition in 
one scholastic year, unless the Trustee and teacher of 
the district into which he has removed shall so agree. 
It sometimes happens that a pupil, living in a district 
•the first six months of a scholastic year, has the oppor¬ 
tunity of attending school, and by removal the school 
may be taught in the district the latter part of the year. 
In such a case the privilege cannot be enjoyed a second 
time in the latter district. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


95 


7. In case a Commissioner of Common Schools em¬ 
ploys a “suitable person to take the census” of children 
in a district in which the Trustee has failed to perform 
this duty, the Commissioner can legally draw upon the 
Treasury for the compensation agreed upon with such 
person, to be paid out of the school fund appropriated 
said district for the ensuing school year, provided no 
Common School is taught in said district. 

8. Cities and towns desiring to establish graded schools 
cannot do so for that year, after census has been report¬ 
ed. Such cities or towns must take the census thereof 
at the time the Trustees are required to do so, and re¬ 
port as one district, in order to enjoy the privilege the 
ensuing year. 

9. The residence of a child is generally that of a par¬ 
ent, master, or employer, with whom he resides. The 
conditions that would give a child a right to vote, if a 
citizen, would give him a right to attend school. But 
the residence of the parent is not necessarily that of the 
child, in reference to the school. If a child reside in 
another district with a grand-parent or other relative, as 
a member of the family, or is working for his boarding 
and clothing, or for money, with the privilege to attend 
school a part of the time, or is in any other way sepa¬ 
rated from his parents, with the consent of the latter, 
by a permanent arrangement made in good faith and 
for his own benefit, he thereby acquires a new school 
residence, and a right of admission to the schools of the 
district within which he thus resides. The legal resi¬ 
dence of orphan pupils is in the same district with the 
guardian, or in the district where the guardian has 
provided the pupils with a permanent home. Age and 


9 6 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

residence, not property and tax, determine the right 
of admission to the public schools of a district. 

io. The census must include only those who will be 
between the ages of six and twenty the succeeding first 
day of July. A child who will be six years of age on 
the second of July, or a person who will be twenty on 
the thirtieth day of June, are not proper pupils for enu¬ 
meration. All children legally reported in the census 
are entitled to the benefit of the school for the year in 
which they are enrolled. Should a pupil, after having 
been enrolled in one district, remove to another, it is 
entitled to free tuition in that district to which it has 
removed. But no child is entitled to more than five 
months’ tuition in the public schools in the same school 
year. 

n. When the apportionment tables have been made 
out no mistakes can be corrected, the rectification of 
which increases the number of pupil children. When 
the apportionment is made, the sum of money at the 
disposal of the Superintendent is divided by the ag¬ 
gregate number of pupil children, the quotient is the 
per capita , and this process exhausts the public fund. 
Where the number of pupils reported in a district is 
too large, the error can be corrected, for its rectification 
leaves money in the treasury. For instance, forty chil¬ 
dren may have been erroneously reported. The law re¬ 
quires a five months’ school in a district where there are 
forty or more children. It may be desirable to teach a 
three months’ school. If, then, thirty-nine children is 
the right number, the error can be corrected and a three 
months’ school be taught. 

12. Applications are frequently made to the Super¬ 
intendent to change the boundary of districts. In his 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


97 


capacity of Superintendent he has no jurisdiction over 
the matter of boundaries. Neither the Superintendent 
nor the Commissioner can change a boundary after the 
census has been reported. 

13. Is a child not reported by the Trustee in April, 
and who is six years of age, before the public school is 
taught, entitled to attend the Common School free of 
charge?” No. He must be six years of age on the 
first day of July. Should lie be six years of age on the 
second day, he would not be a pupil for that year within 
the meaning of the law. Should a person be twenty 
years of age on the thirtieth of J une, he is not a proper 
pupil; but if twenty years of age on the second day of 
July, he is entitled to be reported in the census for that 
year. 

14. The fact that a pupil has not been reported in 
the census does not debar him from the benefit of the 
schools of his district. A pupil moving into a district 
from another in which he was reported in the census, 
is entitled to the benefit of the school in the district 
to which he removes, provided he has not enjoyed 
this benefit in the district from which he has removed. 
Every pupil child in the State is entitled to the ben¬ 
efits of the Common School for the time it is taught, 
whether reported or not in the census. Trustees in 
making contracts must not engage teachers for a cer¬ 
tain number of pupils, but to teach all who are entitled 
to the benefits of the Common School, for the public 
fund apportioned to the district. There can be no such 
thing as a tuition fee and rating the pupils, and cred¬ 
iting the per caput upon the bills for instruction. In 
the Common Schools the only way to supplement the 

9 


9 8 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


teacher’s salary is by voluntary subscription or by local 
taxation. 

§ 8. It shall be the duty of each Commissioner, on or before tenth 
day of January, February, May, and the first day of July in every 
year, to prepare and cause to be placed in the hands of the Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction a report, certified by the county judge 
or clerk as having been sworn to by him, showing the districts in 
which schools have been taught for a full session, and those in which 
schools have been taught for one half the session; and if said report 
is approved by the Superintendent, he shall certify the amount due 
for said schools to the Auditor, who shall draw his warrant on the 
Treasury in favor of the Commissioner in payment of the same,- 
which he shall collect as soon thereafter as possible, and when col¬ 
lected, pay over to the teachers of the district in proportion to the 
amounts they are respectively entitled to, for the use and benefit of 
the teachers thereof: Provided , That in cities oi’ganized as one dis¬ 
trict, the President or Chairman of the School Board of such cities 
shall make the report required of them by this act under oath, direct 
to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and draw an order on 
the Auditor of Public Accounts in favor of the Treasurer of such 
School Board, which, when approved and countersigned by the Super¬ 
intendent of Public Instruction, shall entitle such Treasurer to a 
warrant on the Treasury of the State for the amount thereof; and 
the said Treasurer and his securities shall be accountable for the same 
upon his official bond in any action by such School Board: Provided 
further, That no part of the “County Commissioner’s Fund,” or his 
compensation provided for in section twelve, article one, of this act, 
shall be deducted from the money to which such city is entitled. All 
reports made to the Commissioner shall be carefully filed and pre¬ 
served by the Commissioner, and shall be subject to his revision and 
correction, if mistakes should be detected therein. 

Remarks. 

I. It is a frequent matter of inquiry why payment 
should be delayed until January (forty per cent.) and 
February (sixty per cent.). The reason is, that the 
funds are not in the Treasury for an earlier payment. 
The schools are paid out of the revenue of the current 
scholastic year, and not from the resources of the pre* 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


99 


vious year. Our revenue laws allow the sheriff up to 
a certain time to pay the moneys collected into the 
Treasury; and experience has demonstrated that these 
payments will not justify an earlier disbursement nor in 
larger amounts. The Superintendent has several times 
endeavored to have the Legislature synchronize the 
revenue and school laws, but conflicting local interests 
have proved strong enough to defeat his suggestions, 
and the painful disharmony is perpetuated to the serious 
annoyance of teachers and the detriment of the school 
system. The Governor and the Auditor have joined the 
Superintendent in his recommendations; but the alleged 
interests of the tobacco-growers has always been suffi¬ 
ciently powerful to overthrow the suggestions of the 
mind-cultivators. 

2. Commissioners, in making up their drafts for forty 
per cent., must not fill the other columns, and expect on 
this to draw the remainder when due. Separate drafts 
must be drawn for the respective amounts. Sometimes 
the draft *is drawn on the ioth of January for one hund¬ 
red per cent., with the expectation that forty per cent, 
will be paid on that and sixty per cent, on the 15th of 
February. In such cases, the whole draft has to be 
amended by reducing it to forty per cent. 

3. Commissioners are not entitled to one per cent, on 
the money apportioned cities operating under a special 
charter. 

4. Commissioners will observe that the money is to 
be paid teachers. School claims are not negotiable. In 
the case of Fox vs. Shipman , 19 th Michigan , page 218, 
it was decided that “warrants for school money were 
not negotiable.” The case is briefly as follows: “The 
Board of district No. 1, of Sheridan, Calhoun county, 


IOO 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


drew a proper warrant for school moneys, payable to 
the assessor, S. E. Geiger. The treasurer indorsed 
his acceptance upon the warrant, and the assessor in¬ 
dorsed it, ‘pay to the bearer the within order.’ Wm. 
D. Fox demanded payment, and sued the treasurer 
before a justice of the peace, who gave a verdict for 
the defendant. The case was taken to the circuit 
court, which gave a judgment of non-suit. 

“The Supreme Court held that the warrant, or school 
order, as the bearer of which the plaintiff brought his 
action, was not a negotiable instrument; that it was an 
official order made by public officers—the moderator and 
director of the school district—upon another, the town¬ 
ship treasurer, to pay a sum of money to still another, 
the assessor, who is the disbursing officer of the district, 
the duties of each of which are defined by the statutes; 
that the paying and receiving the money were official 
acts, performed in the execution of official trusts, and 
that the treasurer was under no obligation to pay the 
money to any other person than the assessor named in 
the warrant. The judgment of the court below was 
affirmed with costs.” 

In view of this, Commissioners may render themselves 
liable by accepting orders to pay other parties, as our 
statute is similar to that of Michigan, or, at least, in¬ 
volves the same principles. 

# 9. A Commissioner may administer the oath required of a Trus¬ 
tee or teacher of Common Schools, or of other persons required to 
make oath in matters relating thereto. 

Remark. 

The oath administered to a Trustee upon his induc¬ 
tion to office suffices for his term. It is not necessary 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


IOI 


for him to swear to each separate report. (See section 
20, article y.) 

§ io. Each Commissioner shall keep a detailed account of all money 
received and distributed by him, a record of all business transacted 
by him as Commissioner, together with the reports of the Trustees, 
the names, numbers, and description of school districts, and all other 
papers and documents of value connected with his office, at all times 
subject to inspection and examination by any school officer, or other 
person interested in any question pertaining to the Common Schools. 

Remark. 

The Commissioner of each county is furnished by the 
State Superintendent with a book so classified and ruled 
that compliance with this requisition is made both sim¬ 
ple and easy. 

§ ii. His private seal or scroll shall stand in lieu of a corporate 
seal. 

$ 12. Any devise, gift, or donation of any real or personal estate in 
aid of the Common Schools of any county of this State shall be held 
in trust by the Commissioner of Common Schools of such county; 
and he shall be required to make settlement in regard thereto, in the 
same manner in which, and at the time when, he makes settlement in 
regard to the moneys received from the revenue of the School Fund; 
but he shall not be required to send a copy of such settlement to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

£ 13. Each Commissioner, on or before the first day of September 
next after the termination of each school year, shall settle his accounts 
for such school year with the county judge, and forward a copy of 
said settlement, certified by the clerk of said court to be correct, to 
the Superintendent. Said settlement shall embrace all sums received 
since the date of his last settlement by said Commissioner for the 
benefit of Common Schools taught during the preceding school year; 
a full statement of all such sums paid out by him, for what, to whom, 
and when paid; and should any part of said fund received by him, 
as aforesaid, remain not paid out, he shall state in his settlement, as 
above, to whom and to what district the same belongs, and the reasons 
why it has not been paid out Should the copy of such settlement 
fail to reach the Superintendent by the tenth day of that month, it 
shall be his duty to notify the county judge and the delinquent Com- 


102 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


missioner of the fact; and upon receiving such notification, it shall 
be the duty of the judge, in case the settlement shall not have been 
made, to immediately compel a settlement by attachment, and a copy 
thereof to be forwarded to the Superintendent. For his failure to 
pay out to those entitled thereto any money in his hands for the 
space of ninety days after the same shall be received by him, or for 
his failure to make the aforesaid settlement by the time required by 
law, the Commissioner shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, being 
indicted and convicted thereof, he shall be fined in a sum not less 
than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, as well as 
remain liable on his official bond, and be removed from office. 

Remarks. 

1. In making this settlement the Commissioner should 
carry before the county judge, as vouchers, all the cer¬ 
tificates of the Trustees that schools have been taught, 
and all the receipts of teachers to whom he has paid the 
money. He should also carry his record of boundaries. 

2. Should any money remain in his hands unexpend¬ 
ed, he should send it promptly to the State Auditor; or 
should he know of any surplus in the hands of Trustees, 
he should order it returned to him, and forward it to the 
Auditor. When any surpluses are returned to the Aud¬ 
itor, the State Superintendent should be notified of the 
amount, that it may be certainly placed to the credit of 
the county in its bond. 

3. It is a serious offense for a Commissioner to neglect 
to make this settlement, and a most disagreeable duty 
for the State Superintendent to notify the county judge 
of the dereliction, and for that officer to compel a settle¬ 
ment by attachment. Yet, should the Superintendent 
and judge neglect to perform this duty, and it should 
turn out that there has been a misuse of the public 
funds, the securities might plead the laches of the offi¬ 
cers, and thus possibly escape financial responsibility. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


103 


The county judge, being himself a bonded officer, might, 
by neglecting to enforce this settlement, from reasons 
of delicacy, be made financially liable to parties who 
had suffered from such neglect. It is a lamentable fact 
that, during my incumbency of the Superintendent’s 
office, there have been three defalcations by County 
Commissioners—a sufficient number to justify the scru¬ 
tiny and vigilance of the law. 

An officer intrusted by the common law or by statute 
is liable to an action for negligence in the performance 
of his trust, or for fraud or neglect in the execution of 
his office, (Jenner vs. Joliffe , 9 John. Rep., 38.) 

The performance of any act prohibited by the statute, 
and for which no penalty is provided by enactment, is a 
misdemeanor. 

Those officers whose accounts are all right will not 
object to the closest examination, and the feelings and 
objections of those who are criminal no one should re¬ 
spect. The faithful officer courts rather than shuns 
investigation, knowing that the closer the scrutiny the 
more the quality of his work will be seen and appre¬ 
ciated. 

§ 14. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to be in attendance 
at his office, at the county seat, on the first Saturday in January, Feb¬ 
ruary, May, and July, in each year, and at such other times as may be 
necessary for him to receive the reports of district Trustees, and to 
transact the business required of him. 

I 

Remark. 

The Commissioner should have an office, or some 
place designated and advertised where he transacts the 
business of his office, and should not fail to be in it at 
the times appointed by the law or himself for conference 
with Trustees. 


104 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


§ 15. He shall also attend at his office on the second Friday in July, 
1874, and every year thereafter, to administer the oath of office to 
Trustees. He shall make a record of the names of Trustees then 
qualified, showing the districts in which they were elected, and the 
post-office of each. He shall at that time deliver to the Trustee 
of each district such blanks as he will need for the current school 
year, and give such information with regard to his duties as may be 
requested. He shall address an official correspondence to the Trus¬ 
tee. Notice to him shall be regarded as notice to the people of the 
district, and it shall be the duty of the Trustee to notify the people. 

Remarks. 

1. While this day is appointed for administering the 
oath of office to Trustees elect, they may be sworn and 
enter upon the discharge of their duties at any time after 
their election has been legally certified. 

2. It is very convenient for the State Superintend¬ 
ent to have a list of the Trustees’ names, and their 
post-office address, as many things may be sent them 
direct, thus avoiding trouble and expense to the Com¬ 
missioner. 

3. The cost of blanks is no inconsiderable item; there¬ 
fore, the Commissioner should enjoin upon the Trustees 
care that they may not be lost or injured. 

§ 16. He shall, previous to the first day of September, prepare and 
mail, and cause to be placed in the hands of the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, his official report, showing, in tables of details 
and aggregates, the school districts of his county, by number ; the 
districts in which schools were taught, and the length of time taught, 
and those in which no schools were taught; the highest, lowest, and 
average number of children at school; the cost of tuition of each 
child for the session and per month ; the number of private schools, 
academies, and colleges taught in the county, and length of sessions 
of the same ; the number of teachers employed—male, female, and 
total—for the Common School; the average wages of male teachers, 
female teachers, and of total teachers per month; the amount of 
money raised for Common School purposes in the district, by local tax 
or otherwise, and for what the same was disbursed ; the number and 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


105 


kind of school-houses, and the value of each ; the number of school- 
houses built, and value of each ; the number of district libraries, and 
number of volumes in each, and the increase during the year; the 
amount he has received for official compensation and expenses. For 
failure to be present at his office at the time appointed to receive 
reports, or for failing to make the report herein required, he shall be 
fined in a sum not exceeding fifty dollars. 

Remarks. 

1. A blank is provided for this purpose. For the 
guidance of Commissioners in making up their annual 
reports, I append the following 

Directory of Rules. 

1st. Fill the 1st column with the numbers of the dis¬ 
tricts embraced in the census report, and the 2d column 
with the numbers, in full, of districts in which schools 
were taught. 

2d. In the 3d column put down the full number of 
months the free school was taught, whether the time 
runs over the limits of the legal session or not, and add 
all up and put the sum at the foot of the column. 

3d. In 7th column, to obtain the “total cost per ses¬ 
sion” of the tuition of each pupil at school, divide the 
total amount of wages paid the teacher for the full ses¬ 
sion of the free school by the “average attendance” of 
pupils as set down in the column preceding it. 

4th. In 8th column, to obtain the “cost per month” 
of each pupil in attendance, divide the total cost per 
session of each pupil in average attendance, as set down 
in 7th column, by the total number of months the free 
school was taught, as set down in the 3d column. 

5th. In columns 18, 19, and 20, to obtain the “wages 
of male, female, and average wages of teachers per 
month,” divide the number of months the free school 
was taught into the full amount of wages paid the 


10 6 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

teacher for the session. This will include not only 
the amount of School Fund apportioned the district, 
but also whatever may have been added to it from 
local subscriptions, assessments, or other means, and 
used to increase the teachers’ wages. 

6th. In column 21, the “amount of money raised in 
the district by other means for Common School purposes” 
is meant to include all that may be raised for increased 
tuitions, building, repairing, or furnishing school-house, 
or other school purposes. 

7th. “Total money raised for Common School pur¬ 
poses,” in column 23, is obtained by adding the amounts 
in columns 21 and 22 together. 

8th. The Commissioner must be careful to place his 
figures in exact line and position, in their respective col¬ 
umns, in a neat, legible, and distinct manner. If he is 
an indifferent or unskilled penman, let him call in the 
aid of some one more expert. In a large majority of 
the tabular reports sent in the figures are awkwardly or 
indistinctly made, or blotted and obscured in their places, 
or zig-zagged and jostled out of line in such a manner as 
to greatly annoy and retard the work of calculation. 
Place them plain and exact on their horizontal lines and 
in their perpendicular columns—units under their re¬ 
spective units, tens under their respective tens, dollars 
under dollars, and cents under cents; and do not fill up 
cypher marks and blank spaces with all sorts of pen- 
dashes to confuse your figures and deface your paper. 
Attention to these small matters will relieve the labor of 
the Superintendent’s office, oblige the attaches, and cul¬ 
tivate a better business taste. 

9th. The Commissioners should certainly be able to 
add up the columns of their respective reports, and give 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


107 


the aggregates at the foot of each. But this should be 
done with great care, and carefully looked over before 
the figures are set down. If the Commissioner is not 
an experienced and apt accountant, he should apply to 
some one who is, to revise his additions and assure their 
correctness. After all, let him put down the sums at 
the foot of columns in pencil-marks, so that they can be 
erased without marring the page if found incorrect. 

10th. The Commissioners should require the Trustees 
to complete and sign their annual report on the 1st days 
of January, April, or July after their respective district 
schools are taught out, at the time they report the fact 
of the session full taught, to draw the school fund appor¬ 
tioned their district. All the facts and data are fresh 
and at hand at that time, and the Trustees conveniently 
present. Afterwards, it will be difficult to get them all 
to return and make out their annual reports as they 
should. Make the furnishing of this report the condi¬ 
tion of the teacher receiving his last pay. 

2. The Superintendent also desires an epistolary re¬ 
port, in which the Commissioner is requested to give 
his opinion as to the relative progress of schools, the 
state of public sentiment, the character of school-houses, 
the quality of teachers, the defects of the school law, 
and to make any suggestion to the Superintendent which 
he may deem proper as to the wants of the system, 
and needed amendments to the law or the rules and 
regulations of the State Board. 

3. The following may be found a useful rule in mak¬ 
ing general averages: 

To ascertain the average compensation of male teach¬ 
ers per month, divide the aggregate amount paid them 
(male teachers) for teaching during the year by the 

Q 


io8 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


whole number of male teachers, and the result by the 
number of months the school has been taught. For in¬ 
stance, three male teachers have been paid the aggre¬ 
gate sum of eighteen hundred dollars for teaching eight 
months, being an average of six hundred dollars each, 
which divide by the number of months and we have 
seventy-five dollars as the average per month. Make 
a similar computation for female teachers. 

To ascertain the average cost of tuition for each pupil 
per month, divide the whole amount paid by the whole 
number of pupils, and the result by the number of 
months the schools have been taught. For instance, 
the whole number of pupils attending school in the dis¬ 
trict is one hundred and twenty, and the amount paid 
for eight months’ school is two thousand four hundred 
dollars; divide the amount paid by the whole number 
of pupils, and we have twenty dollars as the average for 
the whole time, which divide by the number of months 
and we have two dollars and fifty cents as the average 
per month. 

To ascertain the average attendance of male pupils, 
divide the sum of the days they have been present by 
the number of days the schools have been taught. For 
instance, the teachers’ registers show to have been pres¬ 
ent one hundred and twenty male pupils, and the school 
has been taught ninety days; they have been present 
from seventy to ninety days each, and the total of the 
days they have been present is ten thousand two hund¬ 
red and sixty (instead of ten thousand eight hundred, as 
it would have been if they had all attended regularly), 
which divide by ninety, the number of days the school 
has been taught, and the result is one hundred and four¬ 
teen as the average attendance, one hundred and twenty 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. IO9 

being the regular attendance. Make a similar computa¬ 
tion for female pupils. 

§ 17. Any School Commissioner who shall knowingly and willfully 
report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a number of Com¬ 
mon Schools as having been taught in his county greater than the 
number of such schools actually taught therein according to law, or a 
number of children entitled to tuition in his county greater than the 
actual number of such children therein, or otherwise knowingly and 
willfully misstate any fact or facts which he is, or may be hereafter, 
required by law to report to said Superintendent, shall be deemed 
guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction thereof, on 
indictment in the circuit court, be fined in a sum not less than two 
hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the 
county jail not longer than six months, or both so fined and impris¬ 
oned, in the discretion of the jury. 

Remarks. 

I. The Commissioner will observe that it is required 
of him to report only schools that have been “taught 
according to law.” What is a legal school? 

a. Every district having 40 or more children must have 
a 5 months’ school taught. The Commissioner nor Super¬ 
intendent has any discretionary power permitting a shorter 
term. This must include no days of actual teaching, 
from which the legal holidays can be subtracted. These 
legal holidays are the 22d of February, 4th of July, 25th 
of December, and days of thanksgiving or fasting observed 
in respect to the proclamation of the Governor and Presi¬ 
dent of the U. S. The Trustee has no right to contract 
for other holidays, if the teacher is to be allowed the time. 
There can also be subtracted the time the teacher is in 
attendance upon his County Institute, provided it occurs 
during the session of his school. (Section 4, article 11.) 

b. It must have been free, so far as the Common School 
branches were concerned, to every child of pupil age in 
the district. (Section- 1, article 11.) 


no 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


c. It must have been taught the entire term by “a 
qualified or licensed teacher: ” i. e. f one having a certifi¬ 
cate from the State or County Board, or a license from 
a particular district. ( Section I, article 11 .) 

d. The rules and regulations of the State Board must 
have been enforced therein. ( Section 5, article 8.) 

e. It must have been free from all sectarian and infidel 
instruction. ( Section 7, article 11.) 

f. If taught in connection with a university, college, 
academy, or high school, of a non-sectarian character, 
it must have been by the consent of a majority of the 
legal voters, annually obtained at the polls. ( Section 8 , 
article 11.) 

2. When there has been an act beyond human con¬ 
trol, such as the destruction of a school-house by fire or 
storm, the death of a teacher, the visitation of an epi¬ 
demic, or when there has been a removal of a teacher 
for legal cause, the Commissioner, upon a statement of 
the fact or facts to the Superintendent, accompanying 
his draft, may draw for the pro rata amount for the time 
taught of the fund apportioned the district. 

§ 18. That for incompetency, neglect of duty, immoral conduct, 
mnacceptability, or other disqualification, the Commissioner may sus¬ 
pend or remove any teacher or Trustee from office, except in cities or 
towns organized as one district; and when from such cause, or from 
death, resignation, or any other cause, a vacancy in any one of the 
above named offices occurs, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner 
to proceed, within ten days after such vacancy occurs, or as soon 
thereafter as practicable, to supply the same by appointment. 

Remarks. 

1. A teacher’s certificate can be legally revoked only 
upon proof of charges, of which he had written personal 
notice, and against which he had opportunity to make 
his defense. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


Ill 


The following form is sufficient: 


To A. B. : 


(place) (date) 


Sir : You are hereby notified that the undersigned will inquire, at 

his office in-, on-, 18—, at — o’clock, A. M., into the 

validity of the following charge: (Here state the charge, whether 
incompetency, immorality, negligence of duty, etc.) 


C. D., 

County School Commissioner. 


2 . The revocation of a teacher’s certificate should be 
in writing, and the legal cause be assigned therein. 

The following form will be sufficient: 


Office of County Commissioner of Schools, > 

County of -, Kentucky. / 

Whereas, The County Board of Examiners did, on the — day of 

-, 18—, execute and deliver to A. B. a certificate, authorizing him 

to teach in the Common Schools of -county; and 

Whereas, Upon due investigation it has been made to appear that 
the said A. B., in consequence of (state cause), is unworthy longer to 
retain the same: 

Now, therefore , In pursuance of section 18, article 5, chapter 18, 
of the General Statutes of Kentucky, the said certificate is hereby 
revoked. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, this — 
day of -, A. D. 18—. 


C. D., 

County Commissioner. 


The teacher should be served with a copy, and the 
Trustee informed of the action. The teacher should 
surrender his certificate to the Commissioner. Should 
he, however, retain it and attempt to teach under cover 
of it, he would not be entitled to receive any pay. 

3. A teacher having his certificate annulled can appeal 
to the State Board of Education. 

The order of a County Commissioner revoking a cer¬ 
tificate will not be interfered with on appeal to the State 
Board, unless it appears that he has acted from preju- 









11 2 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


dice or passion. The proof of the bias of prejudice or 
passion in the performance of duty must be clear and 
convincing. Mere opinion , unsupported by facts, is in¬ 
adequate to support the allegation. ‘ ‘ As a general 
rule, witnesses, unless experts , should state facts , not 
opinions . ” ( Whitmor & Bowman, 4 Greene , Iowa , 148.) 

4. A teacher addicted to the use of intoxicating 
liquors, who, even occasionally, becomes drunk, does 
not possess that moral character required as a condition 
of obtaining and retaining a teacher’s certificate. A 
teacher who gets drunk on Saturday, but is sober on 
school days, or who becomes intoxicated during vaca¬ 
tion, has been adjudged to be a person of defective 
moral character within the purview of the law. 

5. A Commissioner appointed a Trustee, and this 
Trustee appointed a teacher, and this teacher contracted 
with an assistant teacher. A petition, signed by a ma¬ 
jority of the patrons of the district, was addressed to 
the Commissioner, asking the removal of the teacher 
and Trustee under article 5, section 18, chapter 18, 
General Statutes, upon the ground of “unacceptabil¬ 
ity.” The Commissioner decided that he would not 
remove the Trustee and teacher, whereupon sundry in¬ 
terested parties appealed to the State Board of Educa¬ 
tion. The Board sustained the Commissioner. In the 
opinion, as delivered, it was laid down that the prefer¬ 
ence of a majority of the patrons expressed in a memo¬ 
rial to the Commissioner is not “ unacceptability ” in 
the meaning of the law, but that specific grounds must 
be stated and made clear zvhy a Trustee or teacher is 
unacceptable; that when a Trustee has made his ap¬ 
pointment, as in this case, and the teacher enters into 
contract with a third party, which has been done in the 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 113 

employment of an assistant teacher, some very sufficient 
reasons must be shown establishing ‘ ‘ unacceptability ” 
in order to vitiate the contracts; that the removal of 
Trustees and teachers is in all cases to be very cautious¬ 
ly effected, it being due to the dignity and the rights of 
these officers that neither should be displaced except on 
the clearest proof and after thorough investigation; and 
that a teacher wronged in this respect might seek redress 
for damages against those whom he deemed responsible 
as inflicting them. It was further expressed, and a very 
natural presumption exists, that the Commissioner acts 
in the premises according to his best judgment, and he 
is required to maintain the school interest of his county; 
and that when, in the face of an influential majority, he 
adheres to his determination to retain and support his 
appointee, the clearest proofs must be shown that the 
Trustee is disqualified for his office before the Board 
could undertake to overturn his decision to retain an 
officer of his appointment. 

6 . A teacher who fails to attend the Institute, and to 
give the Commissioner any satisfactory excuse for his ab¬ 
sence, forfeits his certificate. The object of the Institute 
is to benefit the public. If a teacher is ignorant as to 
the best methods of instruction, he should come to learn 
of those informed. If he is adept in pedagogic arts, he 
should come to aid in teaching. A teacher who refuses 
attendance on sordid grounds is not possessed of that 
moral character required by the statutes; therefore, 
when a Commissioner observes a disposition to shirk 
duty—that is, an unwillingness to either learn of superi¬ 
ors or to teach inferiors—he should refuse a renewal or 
reissuing of a certificate. 

10 


114 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

7. In the case of the removal of Trustees, notices must 
be given the same as explained for teachers. 

8. The letter of this section would seem to give the 
Commissioner the power to remove a teacher and then 
to fill his place; but such was not the intention of the 
law-makers. The Trustee should be permitted to select 
and employ the teacher. If otherwise, the Commis¬ 
sioner would render himself liable to the charge of re¬ 
moving with the venal intent of appointing a favorite to 
the place of the dismissed teacher. 

g 19. It shall be his duty to conduct or superintend in person the 
examination of all persons offering themselves for position as teach¬ 
ers of the Common Schools of his county, except in cities and towns 
organized as one district by special acts of the General Assembly, in 
regard to their moral character, learning, and ability to teach said 
schools; and he shall give a certificate of qualification to no teacher 
whom he has not personally and sufficiently examined in his presence, 
as hereinafter provided for; and for any violation of the above speci¬ 
fied duties, he shall be liable to a fine of not less than twenty nor 
more than fifty dollars. 

Remarks. 

1. In purely ministerial matters, where the law clearly 
dictates the method of execution to be pursued, such as 
the making up of statistical and census reports, etc., 
the aid of others may be legally employed; but some 
of the duties of a Commissioner, such as the visitation 
of the schools, deciding questions of difference or doubt, 
determining the qualifications of teachers, are in the 
nature of a special trust in the intelligent judgment and 
official skill of the Commissioner himself, and cannot be 
legally delegated. 

No county certificate to teach is valid without the 
Commissioner’s signature. 

2. A Commissioner, without examination, cannot in¬ 
dorse, and thereby render valid for his own county, a 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 11 5 

certificate issued by the Board of Examiners of another 
county. 

3. The qualifications of a teacher, and the mode of 
examination, receives exhaustive treatment under article 
8, to which refer. 

§ 20 . The Commissioner shall decide all questions of difference or 
doubt having reference to the interests of Common Schools in his 
county; but appeals from his acts and decisions may be had, on peti¬ 
tion of any interested person to the Board of Education. The Com¬ 
missioners shall conform to such reasonable rules and requirements as 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, from time to time, pre¬ 
scribe and announce to them. 

Remarks. 

1. The Commissioner must decide all questions of pol¬ 
icy in reference to the management of Common Schools 
in his county; and, in case of dissent, an appeal should 
be sent up, in writing, to the Board of Education for 
final decision; in which appeal the facts from both sides 
should be plainly stated. A letter to the Superintendent 
is not an appeal. The appeal must be directed to the 
State Board of Education. The Superintendent, acting 
in his capacity as such, has no power to decide against 
a Commissioner. He is ex officio President of the State 
Board; and for him to decide a question against a Com¬ 
missioner would be to prejudge a case that may come 
before him while sitting in another capacity, as a mem¬ 
ber of a court of appeals. All appeals to the State 
Board of Education should be, when possible, agreed 
cases as to the facts and the point of law upon which 
a decision is desired. Where this cannot be effected, 
the statements of both parties to the appeal should be 
accompanied with affidavits or depositions. Questions 
relating to boundaries of districts cannot be intelligently 
determined without a diagram of the country, roads, 


II6 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

streams, etc., agreed upon between the parties, being 
before the Board. This should be accompanied with a 
lucid explanation of the topography in written text. 

When difficulties arise, the parties are to first ask the 
opinion and counsel of the County Commissioner. If 
his decision is' satisfactory, it is final. If not, then the 
parties desiring to appeal notify the Commissioner, and 
he must forward a written statement of the facts in the 
case to the President of the State Board of Education, 
and all the papers in the cause. Where possible, the 
parties should agree upon the facts and the precise point 
at issue. When the parties cannot agree, each must 
furnish his own statement; but no matter, foreign to 
the record, can be admitted, except as set forth in sec¬ 
tion 3 of “answer” to appeals, page 119. The State 
Board will, in all cases, decline to give an opinion or 
decision in any case undergoing or pending litigation. 
Its reason for this is two-fold: first, because the object 
of constituting the State Board a court of appeals in 
matters of school controversy was to prevent litigation, 
and not to afford litigants or their attorneys the means 
of obtaining a favorable verdict after legal proceedings 
have been instituted; and second, the Board has noth 
ing to do with cases which have been referred to the 
civil courts for adjudication; for its jurisdiction ceases 
at the precise point that of the court begins. 

2. A party desiring to appeal may reach the consum¬ 
mation of his wishes by addressing the Commissioner in 
the following form: 

To C. D ., Co?ni?iissioner of Schools for - county : 

Sir: You are hereby notified that I intend to appeal from your 
decision (or action) in the case of (here state it briefly), and I hereby 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. II/ 

ask for your written reasons for the same, that I may forward them 
to the State Board of Education. 

Respectfully yours, A. B. 

3. The State Board is governed by the following rules: 

Rules Respecting Appeals. 

1. An appeal must be in writing, addressed to the 
“State Board of Education,” and signed by the appel¬ 
lant ; but no particular form of statement is necessary. 

2. The appeal should be as brief as is consistent with 
a complete statement of the case. It should set forth 
the action or proceedings appealed from, and the reasons 
why such action should be set aside. If the appeal is 
founded upon the refusal of the County Commissioner to 
act, the reasons why the action asked for should have been 
taken by such Commissioner must be clearly shown. If 
the appeal relates to the formation or alteration of a dis¬ 
trict, a map or plat of the territory affected by the action 
appealed from should be prepared, showing the bound¬ 
aries of the district or districts embraced therein, the 
location of the residences of the inhabitants, the high¬ 
ways, marshes, etc. A statement showing the assessed 
valuation of the district or districts, or of the several 
parts of a district divided, and the number of children 
over six and under twenty years of age residing in each, 
should accompany the map, and form a part of the 
papers in the case. When the papers are completed, 
they should be fastened together, numbered or lettered 
for reference, and an affidavit attached setting forth that 
the statements therein made are true, and that the map, 
list of children, and valuation of property, are correct. 
The affidavit may be in form as follows: 

A. B., being duly sworn, deposes and says, that the statements 
made in the above appeal, all and several, are true, according to the 


118 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


best of his knowledge and belief, and further, that the accompanying 
map, list of children, and valuation of property, are correct. 

[Signed] -, 

Appellant . 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this — day of -, 18—. 

C. D., 

Justice of the Peace. 

Note. —In other matters than formation or alteration of districts, 
the latter part of the affidavit may be omitted. 


3. A complete and correct copy of the appeal and 
affidavit, and all accompanying papers, should be made, 
to which another affidavit should be attached, stating 
that they are correct copies of the papers in the case. 

The form of this affidavit may be as follows: 

A. B., being duly sworn, deposes and says, that the above is a full 
and correct copy of an appeal, and all accompanying papers, designed 
to be sent to the State Board of Education. 

[Signed] -, 

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this — day of-, 18—. 

C. D., 

Justice of the Peace. 

This affidavit should be made upon the copy only— 
not upon the original appeal that is to be sent to the 
State Board of Education. 


The testimony of witnesses should be written down 
at the time, either in narrative form, or in the form of 
questions and answers, as the parties may desire, or as 
may be expedient. This testimony should be carefully 
filed with the other papers of the case. When several 
persons unite in the appeal, the affidavits may be so 
changed as to admit the names of all the appellants, 
and each should sign the appeal. 

4. An appeal should be taken within thirty days from 
the performance of an act or rendering of a decision ap¬ 
pealed from. 




COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. \\g 

The Answer. 

1. The Commissioner will always be given sufficient 
time to prepare his answer; and all the directions above 
given, in reference to the preparation and service of a 
copy of the appeal papers, should be complied with in 
preparing and serving the answer upon the appellant, 
before it is forwarded to the State Board. The forms of 
affidavit given above will answer in all cases for forms to 
be used by the appellee, by changing the words so that 
the affidavit shall refer to an “answer to an appeal,'* 
instead of to an appeal, and by signing it as appellee 
instead of appellant. 

2. In case of neglect of the proper appellees to an¬ 
swer an appeal, any person having an interest in the 
matter may make answer to it, being governed in all 
cases by the same rules as would govern an appellee. 

3. A replication or rejoinder will be allowed upon 
proof that new facts have come to the knowledge of the 
party wishing the rejoinder, since the appeal or answer 
has been submitted to the State Board, or that there are 
material errors in the statements of the other party. 

General Remarks. 

If the appellant or appellee presents statements of 
other parties, these statements should be verified by the 
affidavit of the person making the same. 

All decisions on appeal must be filed or recorded as 
the State Board shall direct. 

No decision can be rendered on ex parte statements. 
No papers will be considered that are not properly veri¬ 
fied, and properly served on opposing parties. 

The propriety of leaving out of appeals all matters of 
a purely personal character, except as they may have a 
direct bearing upon the subject, is obvious. 


120 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


As appeals are decided upon written and not oral evi¬ 
dence, it is not necessary or desirable that either party 
should appear in person before the Board. 

The question of a school-house site cannot be ap¬ 
pealed to the State Board. The law makes the Com¬ 
missioner’s decision final. ( See section y, article 7.) 

The State Board of Education has no right to make, 
abolish, or alter a district or its boundaries. In case of 
appeal, it has its jurisdiction only over the question as 
to whether the Commissioner has acted in conformity 
to law. In a recent case, where the Commissioner had 
placed written notices in the post-office for the parties 
interested, and they failed to receive them, it was de¬ 
cided that the Commissioner was not responsible for the 
treachery of the mail, he having pursued the course 
most likely to place said notices in the hands of those 
for whom they were designed. 

Neither the hearing of a cause before a County Com¬ 
missioner, nor the State Board of Education, involves 
any cost to the parties. 

Rules. 

The latter clause of section 20 leaves the Commis¬ 
sioner, apparently, to judge whether the rules pre¬ 
scribed by the State Superintendent are “reasonable’* 
or not, and, therefore, as the rules and regulations of 
“The State Board of Education” are as mandatory and 
binding as the statutes, and not subject to the variable 
reason of that very uncommon thing, “common sense,” 
the Superintendent will always prefer to refer his views 
to the Board and defer to its judgment. (See section 5, 
article 3.). 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


121 


2 21. In cases of controverted rights to the office of Trustee, the 
Commissioner is empowered to recognize a Trustee from among the 
contestants until the dispute has been litigated. 

Remark. 

This means, should there be a contest between two or 
more parties as to who was legally elected Trustee at 
the annual election, and the matter should be referred 
to the civil courts, the Commissioner, pending the liti¬ 
gation, may recognize one of the number as the Trus¬ 
tee with whom to transact necessary business. Should 
there be a dispute and no reference of the matter to the 
adjudication of the courts, or the arbitrament of a com¬ 
mission created for the purpose, then the Commissioner 
may settle the matter under authority of section 20, and 
designate the person whom he will recognize as Trustee. 
Any party claiming the office afterwards may test his 
right to it by a writ quo warranto . 

§ 22. The Commissioners shall pay the teachers their salary direct, 
upon the certificate of the Trustee that the school has been taught. 

Remarks. 

1. A teacher’s wages are to be paid him, and not the 
parent or guardian, though a minor. 

2. It has been decided that school warrants are not 
negotiable, and Commissioners may involve themselves 
by accepting orders to pay other parties. (See comment 
4, under section 8 of article 5.) 

3. No claim can be better than that of a qualified 
teacher on the State for services rendered. It is very 
desirable that there should be no brokerage in these 
claims. 

\ 23. No Commissioner shall be allowed to buy any teacher’s claim 
at a discount, under the penalty of removal from office by the Super¬ 
intendent of Public Instruction. 


122 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Remark. 

The remarks on the preceding section are in part 
apposite to this. 

§ 24. Each Commissioner, when he resigns, vacates, is removed, or 
goes out of office, shall, within ten days thereafter, deliver to his suc¬ 
cessor, or to the county court clerk for him, any money, property, 
books, effects or papers remaining in his hands, and for failure to do 
so, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars. 

Remark. 

The Commissioner should be careful to obtain a re¬ 
ceipt for the same. The safest plan, so far as surplus 
money not to be expended is concerned, is to return it 
to the Auditor. The receipt of the Auditor or county 
clerk, or the succeeding Commissioner, will be necessary 
as a voucher in making settlement with the county judge. 

§ 25. In the case of the death, removal, resignation, or inability of 
the Commissioner elected by the Court of Claims to act, the presid¬ 
ing judge of said county is hereby authorized to appoint a successor, 
to continue in office until the succeeding annual session of the Court 
of Claims. 

\ 26. In the event of the failure on the part of the Court of Claims 
to elect a Commissioner at the proper time, the incumbent shall con¬ 
tinue in office until the next annual meeting of the Court of Claims. 
Nevertheless, it shall be competent for the county court, at any regu¬ 
lar session, to remove a Commissioner for inability, for habitual neg¬ 
lect of duty, or for malfeasance in office. 

Remarks. 

1. Should the court neglect to hold an election, or 
should there be a tie, the incumbent would hold until 
the next annual session of the court. The Commis¬ 
sioner should have the fact, whatever it may be, certi¬ 
fied to the State Superintendent. 

2. The county judge, in the event of such a failure, 
should ascertain whether the bond is good and sufficient, 
and covers a longer term than two years. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


123 


§ 27. In case of a defaulting and absconding Commissioner, the 
Governor, upon information thereof being furnished by the Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction, shall offer a reward, not exceeding in 
amount $500, for his arrest and delivery to justice. 

Remark. 

In the case of an absconding or defaulting Commis- 
• sioner, the Trustee of each district must bring suit 
against the sureties for the amount due the district. 
Parties in such a case will save themselves considera¬ 
ble cost by promptly settling without the necessity of 
litigation. 

Article VI.— Districts. 

§ 1. The school districts of the several counties, as at present de¬ 
scribed and numbered, shall be retained until altered or abolished 
pursuant to this chapter; but no two districts in the same county 
shall be known by the same name or number. No change in the 
boundary of any district shall be made to take effect during any 
school year, unless made previous to taking the census for such school 
year. Nor shall the boundary of any district be enlarged, unless 
notice, in writing, be first given to the Trustees of other districts to 
be affected thereby, and an opportunity afforded them to resist the 
application for such enlargement. 

Remarks-. 

1. A Commissioner changed the boundary of a dis¬ 
trict without having given written notice to the Trustee 
of the district. It was decided that the action of the 
Commissioner was illegal. It appeared that he had 
given oral notice, but it was decided that this does not 
meet the requirements of the law. 

Commissioners, if they would protect themselves, 
must be careful to give written, notices, and not to 
change a boundary during the current school year, after 
the census has been reported. 


10 


4 


124 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


2. After a Commissioner has heard all the facts in the 
case, he has the right to decide the question of bound¬ 
ary ; but an appeal may be taken from his decision to 
the State Board of Education. The changing of a 
boundary is so far discretionary, that the act of the 
Commissioner will always be affirmed, unless it can be 
shown that there has been an abuse of discretion. 

3. Districts should always be known by their num¬ 
bers. It is frequently the case that the Superintendent 
is written to inquiring about a district by some local 
name it bears, as “Martin’s School-house,” “Rolling 
Fork” district, etc. The Superintendent only knows 
of districts by their numbers. In reporting the census 
to the Superintendent, however, the name of a village 
should always be written opposite the number it bears. 

Every school district must be designated by some 
number, and no district should have but one number. 
When two districts are consolidated, the new district 
should take the number of one of the constituent dis¬ 
tricts, and not of both. Such a designation as district 
number four and five, for instance, is improper; it should 
be either one or the other. The rights and claims of 
parties against a school district are not impaired by a 
change of the name or number of said district. If a 
teacher or other person have a legal claim for services, 
etc., against district number one , and before said claim 
is satisfied said district, by consolidation or otherwise, 
is changed to number tzvo, said claim is as valid against 
the district by its new number as by its original number, 
and may be enforced accordingly. The corporation con¬ 
tinues; the designation only is changed. (11 III., 659; 
28 III., 133.) 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


125 


4. Boundaries should never be altered for trivial causes, 
nor the temporary convenience of individuals, particu¬ 
larly where such a change will distort limitation lines,- 
r or attach territory which, from its geographical pecul¬ 
iarities, does not naturally belong to the district. 

5. In districting, regard should be had to the conven¬ 
ience of the pupils, the ability to build good school- 
houses, the amount of taxable property in the terfitOfy, 
and the character of the patrons. Wherever practicable, 
natural boundaries should be employed, such as rivers, 
ranges of hills, roads, etc. Farms, where it is possible 
to avoid it, should never be cut in two, but all the lands 
of a patron should be included in the district in which 
his residence is located. 

6. It is not sufficient to declare that districts shall be 
composed of such and such persons. Districts must be 
set off by limits including certain territory. (7 Pick ., 
106, and 12 Pick., 206.) 

7. In making a boundary, not only the present but 
prospective welfare of the district should be considered. 

8. When a new district is made, the school-house and 
other property belongs to the district in which it is left 
by the division. The law makes no provision for a di¬ 
vision. Common justice, however, suggests that the 
new district should be paid its equitable apportionment 
of the value of the property; but the funds therefor can 
only be raised by subscription. 

Should it turn out that in redistricting a school-house 
will be so located that it cannot be used for school pur¬ 
poses by either district, then it should be sold, and the 
proceeds pro-rated to the districts or parts of districts 
cut off from the old. 


126 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


9. The State Board will not entertain an appeal with 
regard to the changing of the boundary of a district 
after the apportionment of the School Fund has been 
made. The change must be made before taking the cen¬ 
sus. The rule of the Board is, that the appeal must be 
taken within 30 days after the change has been made. 
If made after the 20th of June, it could not be enter¬ 
tained. 

§ 2. No district shall include more than one hundred white chil¬ 
dren, between the ages of six and twenty years, unless it contains a 
town or village within its limits, or there be established therein a 
high school, academy, or college, entitled, pursuant to this chapter, 
to a share of the revenue of the Common School Fund; and no one 
shall contain less than forty such children, except in cases of extreme 
necessity, and in no case less than twenty. In all cases where the 
number of such children shall exceed one hundred, or fall below 
forty, the Commissioner shall state the reason thereof in his report 
to the Superintendent. The boundary of no district shall extend 
more than four miles square, unless it be necessary to enlarge the 
same so as to include the minimum number of children. Each school- 
house hereafter erected shall be located as near the center of the dis¬ 
trict as practicable. 

Remarks. 

1. In some extraordinary cases the Superintendent 
allows a district with more than one hundred children, 
•as, for instance, when a railroad is being built, and there 
is a temporary influx of laborers into the district, or 
where there are a large number of foreigners whose 
children do not attend the Common School on account 
of being unable to understand the English language, 
or other causes, etc. 

2. There can be but one Common School to a district. 
When the number of pupils exceeds fifty, and one assist¬ 
ant is employed, it should be in the same school with 
the principal. The Trustee has no right to divide the 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


127 


fund apportioned to a district between two or more 
schools. A case —where the public fund was divided 
between two schools in the same district, as follows: 
The Trustee agreed to pay to two. One teacher taught 
a school a full term, and claimed the public money. 
The Commissioner decided that said school was the pub¬ 
lic school, and was sustained. The principle in the case 
is, that the Commissioner knows which is the public 
school, and that the Trustee can have but one school in a 
district. However, in a town, when a local tax is levied, 
a Trustee had taught a male and a female school in dif¬ 
ferent buildings, and it was decided, as they were under 
one principalship, that they were one school within the 
meaning of the law. 

3. In fixing the school-house site, the geographical 
center is not always the center contemplated by the law. 
The convenience of the patrons, as determined by the 
distribution of population and the topography of the 
country, are to be taken into account in fixing the site. 

§ 3. The Commissioner shall, in a book kept in his office for that 
purpose, and subject to public inspection, describe each district in his 
county by its number and boundary, and shall furnish to the Trustee 
of each district a description of the boundary thereof. 

Remark. 

Unless each Trustee is furnished with a description of 
the boundary, children will be reported two or more 
times. While the districts should be described by ter 
ritorial lines, yet, as a matter of convenience, it would 
be well to furnish him, if practicable, with the names of 
the patrons. The names of the patrons, however, con¬ 
stitute no certain guide, as others may have moved in 
who would be overlooked if the census-taker were gov¬ 
erned simply by the names as reported by his predeces- 


128 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


sor. In those counties in which there are no boundaries 
described in the Commissioner’s book, immediate steps 
should be taken to secure accurate geographical descrip¬ 
tions. In no other way can the Commissioner know 
that children are reported but once in the census. In 
some counties this may impose an extraordinary amount 
of labor, and the Court of Claims should not hesitate 
to make a sufficient appropriation to enable the Com¬ 
missioner to take with him the county surveyor, and fix 
definitely and describe accurately the boundary of each 
district. 

§ 4. The Commissioners of two adjoining counties, where the divis¬ 
ion line intersects a neighborhood whose convenience requires it, may 
lay off a district composed of parts of both counties. Such district 
shall be reported, together with its census of pupil children, only as 
belonging to the county in which the school-house of the same may be 
situated, by the Commissioner of said county; and he shall make 
report and draw for the whole district, as though it lay entirely with 
his county. 

Remarks. 

1. When it is desired to recover this territory, the 
Commissioner so desiring must notify the Commissioner 
of the county in which it is reported, and also the Trus¬ 
tee of the district, of his desire and the reasons that im¬ 
pel him. Should the Commissioner in whose county 
the school-house is located refuse, the Commissioner 
desiring to reclaim may notify him of his purpose to 
appeal to the State Board of Education. It would ex¬ 
pedite a decision from the Board if the two Commission¬ 
ers could agree upon a statement of facts and present 
it. The Board will determine, after a full and fair hear¬ 
ing of the case upon the merits of the question, what 
is most expedient to be done. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


129 


2. There was a case in which a new county was form¬ 
ed, carrying with it a school-house, but having nearly 
all the patrons in the old county, the Commissioner 
of which for many years continued to report it; but 
after awhile a new Commissioner of the county created 
claimed the district, on the ground of the location of 
the school-house, and the Board decided that he had a 
legal right to report and draw for the district. 

I 5. Where two school districts adjoin, it shall be lawful for the 
children in either of such adjoining districts to be taught in and at 
such school-house as shall be most convenient to them : Provided , 
however , That their tuition fees shall be paid over to the teacher of 
that district in which they may be taught; and that no such change 
shall be made without the assent of the Trustee of both said school 
districts. In case of an agreement of the kind provided for in this 
section, the Trustee of the district in which the children were reported 
shall notify the Commissioner, and he shall deduct the tuition fees of 
said pupils from the district giving permission, and pay them over to 
the teacher in the district in which they are taught. 

Remarks. 

I. The Commissioner, under cover of the authority 
given him to “lay off districts,” cannot transfer pupils 
that have been reported in one district to another. The 
Trustees of two adjoining districts can agree to an ar¬ 
rangement by which a pupil reported in one may go to 
school in an adjoining one, and the teacher thereof be 
paid the pro rata. The districts must adjoin. A pupil 
cannot go abroad to school and get the benefit of the 
per caput by any arrangement. The patron, too, must 
desire to send his pupil to the adjoining school. It must 
not be a matter of mere caprice or preference, but of 
convenience. A Trustee has not the right to transfer a 
pupil in anticipation of the term of his successor. When 
he takes the census and posts the notices for the election 


130 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


(ist Saturday in July), he exhausts his official relations 
to the next scholastic year. 

2. A Trustee failed to make arrangements for the 
teaching of his school on account of a storm destroying 
the school-house. A number of the patrons desired to 
send to the school of the adjoining district, and it was 
decided, by the agreement of the two Trustees, that the 
money, pro rata , could be drawn by the Trustee for them ,, 
on the statement of the facts to the Commissioner and 
Superintendent, and paid to the teacher who taught the 
pupils. The Trustee could not draw the entire fund, and 
by agreement pay it to the teacher of a neighboring dis¬ 
trict, but he could draw the per caput and pay for each 
of the pupils actually taught. Such an arrangement is, 
however, only desirable when some circumstance, be¬ 
yond human control, precludes the possibility of a school 
being taught. Instances have occurred in which, for the 
sake of getting a better school, Trustees desired to join 
funds; but, while such an arrangement would prove ad¬ 
vantageous to a large number, a majority living remote 
from the school would be denied all benefits of the Com¬ 
mon School. In all such cases the Superintendent has 
refused to recognize the arrangement, and he regards it 
as clearly illegal and calculated to disorder, if not defeat, 
one of the great ends of the Common School System, 
namely: the furnishing of facilities to every child of the 
State to secure an elementary English education. 

3. In case of an agreement of this kind, the Trustee 
making it must not fail to notify, in zvriting, the Com¬ 
missioner of the fact, else, should he fail to deduct and 
pay as desired, he would not be responsible for the fail¬ 
ure. It must not be supposed that a mere oral com¬ 
munication or “sending word” is sufficient. In the 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


131 

multiplicity of matters that press upon a Commission¬ 
er’s attention he is likely to forget. The teacher con¬ 
cerned would consult his own interest by seeing that this 
matter is attended to, as suggested, by the Trustee who 
has given his consent to the transfer. Furthermore, the 
Trustee, in contracting with his own teacher, must be 
careful to state the fact that this deduction will be made. 
If he contracts with a teacher to pay him the fund ap¬ 
portioned the district, he cannot afterwards consent to 
the transfer of a pupil without making himself person¬ 
ally responsible for the sum so alienated from the teacher 
of his own district. 

§ 6. When a city, town, or village establishes and maintains a sys¬ 
tem of Common Schools adequate to the teaching of all the children 
therein, and which all applying for instruction are permitted to attend 
Free of charge, the same shall be deemed one district, and entitled to 
its proportion of the School Fund. Such city or town shall, through 
its school agents or other officers deputed for that purpose, make its 
annual report to the Commissioner of the county, for the several 
schools therein, at the time, and in a similar manner to that required 
of the Trustee of a district. They shall also take the census of the 
white children therein, and make return thereof to such Commis¬ 
sioner as, and at the time, Trustees are required by this chapter to 
do ; and shall, for neglect or violation of their duties in that respect, 
be liable to the same penalties. The Commissioner shall have no 
control over the schools in such districts; but the same shall be gov¬ 
erned in all respects by the local authorities. 

Remarks. 

I. It is competent for a city, town, or village, through 
its council or board of trustees, to establish and main¬ 
tain a system of Common Schools, and to appoint or 
elect a Board of Trustees to control it, and to make 
such rules and regulations as may be judicious, and that 
do not conflict with the Constitution and General Stat- 


132 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


utes of the State. If it contemplates any such scheme, 
it must do so before the census for that year has. been 
reported, and then appoint its own officers to take the 
enumeration of pupil children. Having organized its 
Board, it may submit the question of local tax as pro¬ 
vided for in section 9 of article 2. This Board will have 
to give 15 days’ notice of an election to decide the ques¬ 
tion of tax; and, unless otherwise expressly provided 
for in the municipal charter, must hold the election on 
the 1st Saturday in July. Where the purpose is to 
establish Graded Schools, and it is clearly stated in the 
election notices posted for the information of the elect¬ 
ors, it has been decided that it is not necessary to renew 
the vote from year to year. {See chapter on Graded 
Schools.) It would be well for cities and towns to secure 
special charters for their graded schools. 

Article VII.— Trustees. 

§ 1. Each school district shall be under the control of one Trustee, 
an election for whom shall be held at the school-house of such dis¬ 
trict, or such other convenient place as the Trustee may select, from 
nine o’clock in the morning till five o’clock in the evening of the 
first Saturday of July in each year, notice thereof having been posted 
by the Trustee at three prominent places in the district for ten days 
preceding. At this election, the qualified white voters of the district 
shall be the electors; and any white widow, having a child between 
six and twenty years of age, may also vote, in person or by written 
proxy. No person except a Commissioner, or some person residing 
in the district, shall be competent to act as judge of said election. 
The judge, if not a Commissioner, shall be chosen by a majority of 
the voters present and voting; give the casting vote in case of a tie; 
give a certificate of election to the person elected, signed by himself 
and the clerk of the meeting, and report the name of the Trustee 
thus elected, in writing, to the Commissioner of the county within 
five days after the holding of said election. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


133 


Remarks. 

1. The Trustee must be a voter of the district. He 
should be a man of good moral character. The law, 
which expressly requires this in the Commissioner and 
teacher, clearly implies it in the Trustee. As the object 
of the Common School is to make good citizens, no 
vicious person should be intrusted with the official man¬ 
agement of the system. Indeed, section 18 of article 
5 expressly gives the Commissioner power to remove a 
Trustee for ‘‘immoral conduct.” Electors having the 
interest of their children at heart, and acquainted with 
the imitative nature of the young, will never vote for a 
profane, dissipated, dishonest, contentious, and licen¬ 
tious man. Should one, by any chance, be elected, the 
Commissioner should not hesitate a moment to remove 
him. 

2. Those entitled to vote are all white qualified elect¬ 
ors, and any white widow having a child between six 
and twenty years of age. As to who is a white quali¬ 
fied voter, see comments on section 2 of article 2. If 
the question of tax is voted on, a widow, being a tax¬ 
payer and having no child, may vote on that question, 
but not for Trustee. A feme sole having a child of pu¬ 
pil age is not entitled to vote, nor is a divorced woman. 
A proxy must be written. 

3. Notice for Trustee’s election must be given ten days 
preceding the day, and for district tax -fifteen days. Trus¬ 
tees who would render valid a tax voted must be careful 
to observe this fact, and post the notices fifteen days 
before the first Saturday in July. If the election is on 
the 7th day of July the notices must be posted as early 
as the morning of June 21st for taxes, and the morning 
of June 27th for Trustees. 


134 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


In computing the length of time during which notice 
of a meeting of a school district was given, the same 
rule will be applied as in the case of service of process— 
either the day on which the notice was posted or the day 
on which the meeting was held will be counted. (Mason 
vs. School District in Brookfield , 20 Vt., 487.) 

4. The Trustee should select what he regards the 
three most prominent places ; but the requirement of the 
law is met if he selects three prominent places, even 
though they should all be in one village. His object 
should be to give the widest possible notice. Where all 
have due notice of the time and place of meeting, in the 
manner proposed by law, it is no objection that only a 
very few were present and voted. It is not a majority of 
the voters in the district that determines, but a plural¬ 
ity of those voting. (21 Pick. Rep ., 28.) If there are 
more than two candidates, the one receiving the highest 
number of votes is elected. 

5. The judge, if an elector, has a vote in common 
with others, and a second vote as judge in case of a tie. 
Should the Commissioner preside, and be not an elector, 
he will give the casting vote in case of a tie. Should 
he decline to vote, owing to peculiar circumstances, 
there would be no election, and the old Trustee would 
hold over. It is not sufficient for a person (other than 
a Commissioner) to live in the district in order to act as 
judge, but he must reside in it. For what constitutes 
residence, see comments on section 2, article 2. 

6. Any person offering to vote may be challenged by 
any elector in the district, and the judge of the election 
should administer to the person challenged an oath, in 
substance as follows: “You do swear that you are a 
citizen of the United States; that you are twenty-one 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


135 


years of age; that you have resided in this State two 
years, or in this county one year, next preceding this 
election, and in this school district sixty days.” If he 
takes the oath his vote must be taken, otherwise his 
vote must be rejected. When sworn, the word “sworn” 
should be written opposite the voter’s name. 

How to Organize for Election. 

7. The Trustee should be at the voting place, with 
the poll-book, precisely at nine o’clock, and call to order 
the meeting, to be composed of all the electors present. 
He should then say: “Gentlemen, we have met under 
the forms of the law for the purpose of electing a Trus¬ 
tee and determining whether a tax shall be levied for 
Common School purposes. Who will you have as judge 
of the election?” Candidates for judge having been 
nominated, he should take the vote by ballot or viva 
voce , as the meeting may determine, and announce the 
result. He should then proceed, in like manner, to the 
election of a clerk. This done, he will give into the 
hands of the officers a poll-book, and the election should 
proceed. Should there, at the hour appointed by the 
law, be no one present, he will wait until they come. 
As soon as one man comes, he should offer to make the 
organization for taking the vote, by electing him judge 
and acting himself as clerk. Should this elector refuse 
to act and go away, he could not say he was deprived 
of the privilege of voting. It is not essential to the 
validity of the election that the judge should be sworn. 
It is sufficient that he certify the election, as prescribed 
in the form, to the Commissioner. 

8. If the electors are not notified as required by the 
statute, an election held would be invalid. (Sherwin vs. 
Beybee , 16 Vt. y 439; 17 Vt ., 337.) 


I36 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

9. A notice for a school election must state the pur¬ 
poses for which it is held. Should a vote be taken on 
any other subject than that or those included in the 
notice, the election would be illegal. (Hunt vs. School 
District in Norwich , 14 Vt. f 300.) 

10. When an election is held on the day and in the 
manner required by law, and none of the facts that 
should appear of record are at all in question, the loss 
of the poll-book, accidentally or otherwise, does not in¬ 
validate the election. It is simply a case of lost record, 
which may be cured by the affidavit of the judge and 
clerk, filed with the proper officers, setting forth the 
material facts, with the names of the persons elected, 
etc. The records of the district should also show the 
essential facts of such election. It is held that a school 
election is not invalidated by the mere fact that certain 
names of voters were recorded in the poll-book by a 
person other than the regularly appointed clerk. The 
tenor of the ruling in the case of Piatt vs. The People , 
29 III., 72, favors this view of the case. The presump¬ 
tion would be that the names were properly recorded, 
although by another hand, and it would devolve upon 
the contestant to show that names of persons not voting 
were recorded, or that names of voters were omitted, or 
that other errors occurred whereby voters were deprived 
of their rights, and the result of the election changed. 
In the absence of such proof the simple fact of the 
entry of names by another hand would not, ipso facto , 
invalidate the election. 

11. The Commissioner of a county cannot be held 
responsible for an illegal election held under the auspices 
of a Trustee. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 137 

§ 2. The Trustee so elected shall hold office for one year, and until 
his successor is elected and qualified. 

Remarks. 

1. The term is a school year from July i to June 30. 
A trustee is entitled to office as soon as returned as 
elected. The fixing of the 2d Friday in July for the 
Commissioner to be in his office for the purpose of ad¬ 
ministering the oath is a mere matter of convenience. 
The Commissioner is the proper person to administer 
the oath of office, which should be, in substance, as fol¬ 
lows: “I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
will support and maintain the Constitution and laws of 
the United States, and the Constitution and laws of the 
State of Kentucky, and that I will faithfully discharge 
the duties imposed upon me as a Trustee of Common 
Schools.” 

2. The State Board of Education has decided that 
the employment of a teacher is a right and duty which 
belongs to the new Trustee. The statute gives the 
power to the Board to make rules and regulations for 
the government of Common Schools. It certainly was 
never the intention of the law-framers to give this power 
to the old Trustee. Such a power gives opportunity for 
the exercise of nepotism, and ’for corruption, greatly to 
be reprobated, and destroys much of the interest the 
new Trustee would feel if he were responsible for the 
employment of the teacher over whom he has official 
supervision. It is often the case that the question “who 
an individual will employ to teach if elected?” is the 
determining factor in the minds of the voters. The 
people interested for the best instruction of their chil- 

12 


138 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


dren, and free from all preferences growing out of blood, 
or any possible financial interest, will turn out and vote 
for the man who will employ the teacher who is the 
choice of the patrons; but if the old Trustee is allowed 
to forestall the new, all interest in the election is abated, 
if not altogether lost. It is a principle laid down by the 
courts, that where the consequences of a particular con¬ 
struction of a law would render its operation mischiev¬ 
ous, that construction should be avoided, provided it is 
susceptible of a different one. ( The People vs. Marshall , 
i Gilm ., 672.) 

3. Where a person is in any school office by color of 
right, and exercising the duties thereof, a quo warranto 
is the proper remedy for another person claiming the 
same office, and not a mandamus. A quo warranto is 
the proper writ to try the question of title to an office. 
A proceeding by quo zvarranto must be carried on in the 
name of the people. But to restrain a Trustee from 
doing an illegal or wrong act, or an act believed to be 
illegal or improper, a writ of injunction is the proper 
remedy. 

§ 3. Any person who may be chosen to preside over the election 
of a School Trustee in any school district in this Commonwealth, who 
shall knowingly, and with intent to commit a fraud, receive and 
count any illegal vote, or issue a certificate of election to any person 
not entitled thereto, or shall refuse to issue such certificate to any 
one duly elected, or who shall fail, for five days after the election, to 
report the name of the person thus elected Trustee to the Commis¬ 
sioner; and any person who shall, with fraudulent intent, deface, 
mutilate, or destroy the records of any such election, shall be fined 
the sum of fifty dollars for every such offense, or be confined for 
twenty days in the county jail in default of the payment of such 
fine; and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to report such 
offenses to the grand jury. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


139 


Remarks. 

1. Any judge or clerk of a school election, who shall 
knowingly admit any person to vote who is not qualified 
by law, is liable to punishment by fine, etc. But when 
a vote is tendered, and the voter, being challenged, com¬ 
plies with the requirements of the law in such cases made 
and provided, the judges have no discretion, but must 
receive the vote, unless it is proven to the satisfaction 
of the judge that the voter has sworn falsely. (Spragins 
vs. Houghton , 2 Seam., 408.) 

2. Should the proper officers fail to make return of 
the poll-book, or to certify the Trustee elect, the Trustee 
elected is not to lose office because of their negligence. 
The Commissioner, if satisfied of the election, may ad¬ 
minister the oath of office after having waited five days. 
It is a principle clearly announced, by numerous decis¬ 
ions of the courts, that no one is to be deprived of a 
right, or the people of their wishes expressed at the 
polls, on account of the ignorance or neglect of the offi¬ 
cers appointed to conduct the election and to certify 
this result. No Trustee elect can act until legally qual¬ 
ified. 

3. If the Commissioner would courageously report to 
the grand jury these derelictions, we would soon have 
our school elections conducted with as scrupulous an 
observance of the forms of the law as any other election, 
and the effect would be to dignify the office of Trustee 
in the public esteem, and give to his exercise of author¬ 
ity that magisterial importance with which it richly de¬ 
serves to be regarded. 

§ 4. If from a failure to qualify according to law, or from any other 
cause, there be a vacancy in the office of Trustee, the Commissioner 
of the county shall supply the same by his appointment, in writing, 


II 


140 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

and the Trustee so appointed shall hold his office until the next elec¬ 
tion, or until his successor be elected and qualified. 

Remarks. 

1. A Commissioner should wait ten days, and if the 
Trustee elect does not appear to be qualified, he should 
make an appointment. If the Trustee does not appear 
on the second Friday in July to take the oath, and it 
is desirable that the school of the district should com¬ 
mence, the old Trustee may proceed to the selection 
of a teacher, but the school must begin immediately. 
He must not anticipate his successor. For instance, he 
could not make a contract on the ioth of July for a 
school to begin on the 1st of August, but he might for 
one to begin on the 17th of July, one week being deemed 
sufficient time for the Trustee to notify the district that 
the school will begin. It is not necessary for a Trustee 
holding over to re-take the oath of office. 

2. No man can be compelled, by law, to hold an 
office contrary to his will. The right to decline cannot 
be challenged. But while no one can be compelled to 
take an office, if it is accepted, and the performance of 
its duties are neglected, the delinquent may be com¬ 
pelled, by mandamus , to perform his official duties; the 
writ being the fit one to require a party to act when it is 
his sworn duty to act without it. 

3. It is in the power of a Commissioner to create a 
vacancy, and where there has been no election of a Trus¬ 
tee, or the person elected declines to serve, and good 
reasons exist for the removal of the incumbent, he 
should not hesitate to appoint the best man to the office 
whose services can be obtained. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


HI 

4. A Trustee, supposed to be illegally elected, was 
qualified by the Commissioner. He can only be re¬ 
moved from office under a writ quo warranto. 

5. The office of Trustee is incompatible with that of 
magistrate. Both offices cannot be legally held by the 
same person. 

6. A Trustee, having left his district to be absent sev¬ 
eral months, can be removed from office by the Com¬ 
missioner upon the ground of “neglect of duty,” which 
neglect, however, need not be esteemed criminal, but 
as rendered necessary by private interest. 

Any Trustee, failing or refusing to execute his duties 
as Trustee according to law, may be removed by the 
County Commissioner, who will appoint a successor. 

§ 5. He and his successor shall be a sole corporation, with perpet¬ 
ual succession, by the name of the Trustee for his school district; 
and as such may sue and be sued, take, hold, and dispose of real and 
personal estate, for the maintenance, use, and benefit of the Common 
Schools of his district, and receive and enforce payments of subscrip¬ 
tions for the like purpose. His private seals or scrolls shall stand in 
lieu of a corporate seal. 

Remarks. 

I. The Trustee being a sole corporation, all deeds 
should vest in him. It is this fact that makes the legal 
acts of a Trustee binding on his successor. It is this 
fact that relieves him from the payment of all costs in 
suits brought by him. No justice of the peace, county 
judge or clerk, sheriff or constable, can charge any costs 
in any suit where any school officer is plaintiff. ( See 
section 6, chapter 26, General Statutes.) The property of 
a Trustee, by reason of the office being a corporate one, 
is not liable. This, however, does not apply to cases of 
malfeasance or neglect of duty. For contracts illegally 


142 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


made, or through losses occasioned by failure to perform 
duties enjoined by law, a Trustee is liable; because, in 
such cases, his relation to the district is altered. He 
loses his corporate character, and hence, his acts not 
being authorized by law, he and his property can be 
held answerable for the consequences. The State and 
the district are responsible only for contracts and debts 
incurred under the law. If a Trustee contracts to pay a 
teacher more money than the fund apportioned the dis¬ 
trict by the State will furnish, he passes his trust as a 
.State officer, and acts in his local or personal capacity. 
A moral obligation to pay a teacher cannot be enforced 
by law. To avoid all trouble, the precise intention of 
the parties should be expressed in writing. If a district 
tax is levied for the better payment of the teacher, the 
Trustee should be careful to understand what it will 
yield, that he may not make himself responsible for a 
larger sum than he will readily and certainly obtain for 
the payment of the teacher. 

2. An important principle is announced in a decision 
of the Supreme Court of New York (5 Wendell , page 
234), in which the court said: 

“It will be observed that these cases do not go upon 
the ground that the claim by an individual to be a pub¬ 
lic officer, and by acting as such, is merely prima facie 
evidence that he is an officer de jure (of right), but the 
principle they establish is this: that an individual com¬ 
ing into office by color of an election or appointment, is 
an officer de facto (in fact), and his acts in relation to the 
public, or third persons, are valid until he is removed, 
although it be conceded that his election or appointment 
was illegal.” 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


143 


“In the case of Trustees and collectors of school dis¬ 
tricts, general reputation of their being such officers, and 
proof of their acting as such, is prima facie sufficient, 
without producing evidence of their election, especially 
where there is evidence of their acting under color of an 
election.” (7 Wendells Rep., page 341.) 

3. The Constitution makes the Common School Sys¬ 
tem a State interest. Hence School Commissioners and 
Trustees are the agents and ministers of the State itself, 
and not merely officers of the county and districts. 

4. A public officer who is required by law to act in 
certain cases, according to his judgment or opinion, and 
subject to penalties for his neglect, is not liable to a 
party for an omission arising from a mistake or want 
of skill, if acting in good faith. ( Leaman vs. Paten , 2 d 
Carnes Iowa Reports.') 

5. A seal or scroll shall in no case be necessary to 
give effect to a deed or other writing. All unsealed 
writings shall stand upon the same footing with sealed 
writings, having the same force and effect, and upon 
which the same actions may be founded, unless the law 
specially requires a seal. ( Section 2, chapter 22, General 
Statutes .) 

§ 6. The Trustee shall keep a record of all his official transactions, 
which shall at all times be open to the inspection of the Commis¬ 
sioner. 

Remarks. 

1. To purchase this book, which need not exceed fifty 
cents in cost, the Trustee can use the contingent fund 
provided for in section 9 of this article. A book cost¬ 
ing fifty cents would answer the purposes of the district 
for at least five years. 


144 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

2. The Commissioner, in making this visitation, should 
see that this record is kept. In districts where the Trus¬ 
tee is neglecting it, let him enjoin the observance of this 
requisition of the law. Until Commissioners, teachers, 
and Trustees are brought to a rigid respect for all the 
prescriptions of the law, the Common Schools cannot 
be reduced to a system. 

3. This record should contain the date of the employ¬ 
ment of the teacher and a copy of the contract; the date 
the school began; the date of the visits to the school, 
and observations suggested by them; the date of mak¬ 
ing the several reports to the Commissioner; the date 
of posting election notices; the date and circumstances 
of condemning a site for a school-house, and a copy of 
the deed to the land; the date and circumstances of 
notifying the district to build or repair the school-house; 
the date and circumstances of suspending or expelling 
a pupil, or of removing a teacher; a copy of all rules 
enjoined for the government of the schools, and the date 
their enforcement was ordered; a detailed and accurate 
account of all moneys disbursed for the benefit of the 
district. This book should also contain the territorial 
boundary of the district, copied from the Commission¬ 
er’s book, and the names of all the patrons in the dis¬ 
trict, and the date of the removal into or out of the 
district of all new-comers or out-goers. Other miscella¬ 
neous matters will suggest themselves to the intelligence 
of the Trustee. 

# 7. The Trustee may take land, by purchase or donation, for the 
purpose of erecting thereon a school-house, provide for and secure 
the erection of the same, construct such out-buildings and inclosures 
as shall be conducive to the protection of the property and the com¬ 
fort and decency of the pupils and teachers, make repairs, and pro¬ 
vide the necessary furniture and apparatus. He shall have power to 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


145 


recover for any damages that may be done the property in his charge; 
and he may change the location of the school-house, sell or dispose 
of the old site, and use the proceeds thereof towards procuring a 
new one. If he cannot agree with the owner of any land most suita¬ 
ble for a school-house site as to the price and terms of purchase and 
sale thereof, the county court shall issue a writ of ad quod damnum, 
directed to the sheriff, to be executed and returned to said court as 
in case of opening roads; and upon return of said writ, duly exe¬ 
cuted, and upon the payment in court for the benefit of the owner 
of the amount ascertained by the verdict of the jury, the said court 
shall issue a writ requiring the sheriff to put the Trustee in posses¬ 
sion of said lot; and thereupon the title to said lot shall vest in said 
Trustee: Provided , He shall not have the right to condemn any pri¬ 
vate property, which is used by the owner as a residence, garden, or 
orchard, or located within forty rods thereof. The quantity of land 
thus condemned shall in no case exceed one acre. One third of the 
school electors of any district may appeal from the decision of the 
Trustee, in the location of the school-house, or site for same, to the 
School Commissioner of the county, whose decision in the case shall 
be final. In such location, it shall be made as near the centre of 
the district as will be convenient of access to all the inhabitants of 
the district as practicable; and the Trustee shall make provisions for 
such roads or passways to the school-house as will accommodate all 
the pupils who may be entitled to attend, and may apply to the 
county court having jurisdiction to open the same, as other road¬ 
ways are opened for public necessity and convenience. 

Remarks. 

The Site. 

1. By our laws this is required to be as near the cen¬ 
tre of the district as practicable. It is not meant by 
this that it must always be at or near the geographical 
centre. It must be accessible to the largest number of 
children. Elevation of site, good water, etc., may some¬ 
times figure in determining the location. The Trustee is 
empowered to select the site, and in doing so it would 
always be well for him to consult the wishes of the pa¬ 
trons. He should, however, never yield to the mere 
13 


I 46 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

demands of wealth and influence in locating near their 
residences, at the expense of the convenience of the 
poor, and the larger number of pupils. Upon the peti¬ 
tion of one third of the electors, an appeal from the 
Trustee locating the site may be taken to the County 
Commissioner, and his decision is final. In selecting, 
the probabilities of the future should not be ignored; 
but the necessities of the present must be the prime con¬ 
sideration. It should, when practicable, be on a public 
road. The Trustee has power to open roads or passways 
to the house for the convenience of pupils. The Trus¬ 
tee may take land by purchase or donation. If the 
owner of the land cannot be contracted with, the Trus¬ 
tee can apply to the county court, and it, by the execu¬ 
tion and return of a writ of ad quod damnum , will put 
him in possession as soon as he pays in court the amount 
designated by the verdict of the jury as the price of the 
lot. He cannot, however, condemn land upon which is 
located a residence, garden, or orchard, or go nearer a 
home than forty rods. He cannot condemn over one 
acre. It has been decided that the forty rods rule was 
not intended to apply to cities and towns. 

In selecting a site, regard for the health of the pupils 
should be the paramount consideration. Low, swampy 
places are to be avoided. They breed pestilence. The 
site should be elevated, well drained, and surrounded 
by trees. Where trees are not native, they should be 
planted at once. Not only do they minister to comfort, 
but a house in a grove is always more attractive than 
one located upon a treeless and shrubless spot. A gravel 
knoll, where it can be obtained, is desirable, since it fur¬ 
nishes a dry approach and prevents the carrying of mud 
on the feet of the pupils into the school-room. The 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


147 


school-grounds should contain the full acre wherever 
practicable, so as to permit the house being set well 
back from the dusty road, and to afford ample ball 
grounds for the boys, without the necessity of intru¬ 
sion upon the premises of others. A school-house so 
located as that the children have no room in which to 
play is a shameful cruelty—one that should never be 
practiced upon the young—so full of mercury and of 
mischief. A good form for the grounds is an area of 
10 rods front and 16 rods deep. The house should 
be located about 6 rods from the highway. A strong 
fence should inclose the grounds, the yards in the rear 
being separated by a high and tight board fence, within 
each of which area the necessary outbuildings should 
be located, the reason of which is obvious to every per¬ 
son of delicate thought. An area of 8 rods front by 
IO rods deep may do for a small school, the house being 
located about 4 rods back. 

A vote of the electors of a district will not compel a 
Trustee to act in accordance with the expressed will of 
the majority in relation thereto. The power to locate 
the school-house resides in the Trustee. ( Vance vs. The 
District Township of Wilton , Supreme Court of Iowa.) 

2. If it is necessary to apply to the court to have 
the site condemned, the court will command the proper 
officer to summon and empannel a jury of freeholders 
of the county, not interested in the matter, to meet on 
the land which it is proposed to take, at a certain time 
and place, and this jury shall fix the value of the land. 
(Section 8, article 1, chapter 94, General Statutes.) 

a. ‘ ‘ An order, awarding a writ of ad quod damnum, 
upon an application, must name the day on which the 


I48 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

inquest is to be had, which must also be inserted in the 
writ. The omission is fatal.” {Revised Statutes, section 
7, article 1, chapter 84; Troutman vs. Barnes, 4 Metcalfe , 
338; Invin & Taulvs. Scobee, 3 Mon., 50.) 

b. ‘ ‘ An inquest upon a writ of ad quod damnum, in 
a road case, is fatally defective, which merely ascertains 
the aggregate amount of damages, without showing on 
what grounds it is based.” ( Robinson vs. Robinson , 1 
Duvall, 163; Rout vs. Mountjoy , 2 B. M., 302.) 

c. “The verdict should ascertain: 1. What will be 
a just compensation to the owner for the land taken. 

2. What additional fencing will be rendered necessary. 

3. What the damages will be to the residue of the 
tract, beyond the peculiar benefits which will be derived 
to such residue from the road.” ( Robinson vs. Robin¬ 
son, 1 Duvall, 163.) 

3. While, in cases of possession by title, under writ 
of ad quod damnum , it is not absolutely necessary to 
have a deed, yet, if the party will make one, it will be 
better. For the convenience of Trustees, I give the 
following 

Form of a Deed. 

Know all men by these presents, that A B, and C D, his wife, of the 

county of-, and State of Kentucky, party of the first part, for and 

in consideration of the sum of -dollars, to them paid by the 

Trustee of school district No. -, of the county and State afore¬ 

said, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby grant, 

bargain, sell, and convey to school district No. -, the party of the 

second part, and their assigns forever, the following described parcel 
of land, viz: [Here insert description] together with all the privileges 
and appurtenances thereunto belonging, to have and to hold the same 
to the said party of the second part, and their assigns, forever. And 
the said party of the first part, for themselves, their heirs, executors, 
and administrators, do covenant, grant, bargain, and agree, to and 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


149 


with the said party of the second part, and their assigns, that at the 
time of the ensealing and delivery of these presents, they were well 
seized of the premises above conveyed, as of a good, sure, perfect, 
absolute, and indefeasible estate of inheritance in the law, in fee- 
simple, and that the said lands and premises are free from all encum¬ 
brances whatever; and that the above bargained premises, in the 
quiet and peaceable possession of the said party of second part, and 
their assigns, against all and every person or persons lawfully claim¬ 
ing or to claim the whole, or any part thereof, they will forever 
warrant and defend. 

In witness whereof, the said A-B-, and C-D-, his 

wife, party of the first part, have hereunto set their hands and seals, 
this-day of-, A. D. 18—. 

A - B -[SEAL.] 

C - D - [SEAL.] 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of 

H-I-, 

J-K-. 

Remarks. 

1. In order to protect the district in its title to a site, 
the deed thereof must be recorded in the county clerk’s 
office. 

2. If the land conveyed is less than $100 in value, 
no revenue stamp is required. If valued at more than 
$100, the deed will require a stamp. 

3. A school-house should never be erected upon land 
not owned by the district, except in case of absolute 
necessity. The law does not forbid the building of a 
school-house upon leased ground, or where the district 
does not possess the fee, but it is a bad practice, and 
almost sure to result in trouble and loss to the district, 
sooner or later. No site should be voted for until it 
is ascertained whether a clear warrantee deed can be 
obtained or not. If a site is voted for, and it is after¬ 
wards found that a clear title cannot be obtained, it is 
better to select another site. It is impolitic to build and 
expend the money of the district upon lots in which the 











150 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

district has only a conditional estate, as where the lots, 
by the terms of the deed, revert to the former owner 
when they cease to be used for school purposes, etc. 
Where the ground upon which existing school-houses 
stand is in that condition, the Trustee should secure 
quit-claims , if possible, from the makers of the deeds, 
so as to pass the titles which they might acquire by 
reversion. The property may become very valuable, 
and the Trustee may wish to change the site of the 
school-house, in which case the land should be held by 
such a tenure that the district could sell and have the 
benefit of the proceeds for the new house and site. A 
clear title, in fee-simple, is always the best policy. 

4. Turnpike, gravel, and plank roads, in which the 
State has an interest, shall charge no tolls against ‘‘schol¬ 
ars ” going to or from their homes. (Section 4, chapter 
no, General Statutes.) 

5. There can be no appeal to the State Board of Edu¬ 
cation from the action of school officers in fixing a site. 
The matter is ended when the Commissioner decides. 
A vote of the electors to remove a school-house will 
not compel the Trustee to act affirmatively in relation 
thereto. One third of the electors may appeal from 
the decision of the Trustee in the location of the school- 
house, or site for same, to the County Commissioner, 
but he has the right to employ his discretion, though a 
majority of the patrons join in the appeal. 

6. For the whole procedure in opening roads, see the 
General Statutes, article I, chapter 94. No one has the 
right to close a passway necessary as an approach to a 
school-house. 

7. Since a school-house was built, a dwelling-house 
was erected, and an orchard planted adjoining the site; 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


151 

it is contemplated by the Trustee to build a new school- 
house. It is contended by the owner of the dwelling 
and orchard that section 7, article 7, precludes the erec¬ 
tion of the house. It is decided that the site is the 
property of the district, and that therefore the Trustee 
has a perfect right to tear down the old and build a 
new house on the same spot. To suppose otherwise, 
would be to give the statute, enacted since the dwell¬ 
ing-house was built on ground adjoining that owned by 
the district for school purposes, an ex post facto effect. 

8. A district may unite with other parties in the erec¬ 
tion of a building, one part to be owned by the district 
as a school-house, and the other part to be owned by 
the other party for other purposes. (Eddy vs. Wilson , 
43 Vt., 362.) 

9. A case occurred in Vermont in which the land was 
taken in invitum, for public use , the district only having 
use for the lower part for school purposes; and the real 
purpose in building was to get an association a large hall 
overhead, and not to furnish school facilities; therefore, 
the court vitiated the whole proceeding. In view of this 
decision, Trustees should be careful never to lend their 
office to the accommodation of other interests at the 
expense of the public. It is very questionable whether, 
in case a school-house is to be erected with a hall over¬ 
head for other than educational purposes, a county court 
would be justified in putting the Trustee in possession 
of the land by a writ ad quod damnum. [To what dam¬ 
age: a writ to ascertain what damage would accrue from 
a grant.] 

§ 8. After the first day of December, 1873, if a majority of the 
white qualified voters of such district, under this chapter, consent 
thereto, the County School Commissioner may condemn any school- 


152 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


house which may be old, dilapidated, inconvenient, or unhealthy, or 
unfit to be occupied for the purposes of a Common School; and shall 
notify the Trustee of such district thereof, when he shall order a per 
capita tax not exceeding two dollars on each white male in the district 
over twenty-one years of age, to be collected as similar State taxes 
usualh are; and such tax shall be applied to the erection and furnish¬ 
ing of a school-house adapted to the wants of said district: Provided , 
That in such districts where said tax would not be adequate to the 
erection of a good and sufficient school-house, or would be oppres¬ 
sive to the people of said district, it shall be the duty of the Com¬ 
mon School Trustee to warn in the hands liable to work on the public 
highways in such district to meet at the place selected for the school- 
house, with such tools as they are directed to bring, for the purpose 
of repairing or building a new school-house, five days’ notice being 
sufficient. The school-house may be built of logs, stone, brick, or 
plank, but must be of sufficient size to accommodate the children of 
the district, and have a chimney of stone or brick where a fire-place 
is used, or where a stove is preferred, a pipe so protected as to secure 
the building from fire; it shall have glass windows to afford sufficient 
light, and suitable seats and writing-tables for the children of the dis¬ 
trict. When a school-house is to be built, the Trustee of the district 
may apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for specifica¬ 
tions and plans of model school-houses, and the Superintendent may 
furnish the same, and the school-house may be built upon one or the 
other of the plans furnished—as nearly as the circumstances of the 
district will allow. Said tax shall be collected by the sheriff of the 
county, as the revenue of the State is now collected; and pay over to 
the County Commissioner the amount collected from said district, to 
be paid out on the order of the Trustee ; and the Commissioner shall 
be liable under his bond for the proper disbursement of all such 
funds. If any person liable to work on the public highway or roads 
of the county fails to attend at the time and place, and with tools 
directed by the Trustee, or fails or refuses to work when in attend¬ 
ance, he shall be proceeded against in the same way, and subject to 
the same fine, that hands, are now by law who fail to work on the pub¬ 
lic highway; but such person shall not be required to work more than 
two days out of any week. If the Trustee of any Common School 
district in the State fail, after the school-house has been condemned 
by the Commissioner, to have a good and sufficient school-house in 
his district within six months thereafter, he shall be liable to be 
indicted by a grand jury and fined, as overseers of the public high- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


153 


way are for failing to keep their precinct of road in good repair; but 
the Commissioner is authorized to give the Trustee six months' additional 
time in which to build a school-house , whenever , in his judgment , it shall be 
expedient. All the fines collected under this section shall be applied 
to the benefit of the school-house in such district. The provisions 
of this section shall not be construed so as, in any way, to apply to 
negroes and mulattoes: Provided , No Common School district in 
which, by any of the provisions of this chapter, an additional tax 
has been levied for any of the purposes in this chapter mentioned, 
shall be altered in respect of boundary, name or number, so long as 
the levy of such additional tax is continued. But no such levy shall 
continue for a period of more than one year, unless the same is annu¬ 
ally renewed by vote. The district tax authorized by article two and 
section nine, in this chapter, shall not be so construed as to authorize 
more than one tax of thirty cents on the one hundred dollars in any 
one year. 

Remarks. 

1. In obtaining the views of the majority, it is not 
necessary to hold a formal election. It is better, in¬ 
deed, to secure a petition of the majority. As the law 
requires, in this case, the consent of a majority of the 
voters in the district, this number might not visit the 
polls. Widows and aliens having the right to vote, as 
provided in section two, article two, of the school laws, 
are to be reckoned among the “white qualified voters.” 

It is not necessary to have every elector petition. It 
is sufficient to secure the petition of a majority. 

2. The right is clearly implied, where there is no 
^school-house, to order one to be built. The intention 
:of the statute-makers was to secure for each district a 
good school-house. 

“Where the words of a law are obscure or doubtful, 
and the sense of the Legislature cannot with certainty 
be collected by interpreting the language according to 
reason and grammatical correctness, considerable stress 


154 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

is laid upon the light in which it was received and held 
by contemporary members of the profession.” ( Opinion 
of Court in Collins' History case .) 

3. The capitation tax of two dollars can be levied as 
many years as may be necessary to pay for a school- 
house. The Trustee has the right to levy this tax and 
call out the hands also, if necessary, to build a school- 
house, in a district in which one is needed, or has been 
condemned. Though a tax be levied by local vote, and 
this be inadequate to the building of such a school-house 
as is requisite, the hands may, in addition, be called out 
and the capitation tax be levied. 

An omission, through error of judgment or mistake, 
to assess a person liable to a tax, does not invalidate 
the tax as against others. (21 Pick., 76; 6 Met., 498.) 

4. The Superintendent has issued a Manual on School 
Architecture, and all parties contemplating building, re¬ 
pairing, or furnishing school-houses, should obtain a 
copy of the County School Commissioner or the State 
Superintendent, which can be done without individual 
cost. 

5. A school-house is absolutely under the control of 
the Trustee. If used for other than school purposes, 
such as concerts, church meetings, Sabbath Schools, etc., 
the consent of the Trustee must be obtained. School- 
houses that are insured, and are burned while used for 
purposes foreign to those for which they were designed, 
may forfeit insurance. Trustees should examine poli¬ 
cies with reference to this. 

A school cannot be dismissed for the purpose of 
placing the school-house at the disposal of any parties 
desiring to use it for other purposes. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS, 


155 


A Trustee cannot rent or allow a school-house to be 
used for a private school when the Common School is 
in session. He may allow a school-house to be used for 
religious purposes, but this must be a universal privi¬ 
lege, or limited to no particular sect; in other words, 
he cannot employ the public property to promote the 
interest of a favorite denomination; such conduct would 
be ground for his removal from office. 

Viewed purely as a legal question, school-houses can 
only be used for school purposes. But, in the present 
condition of our country, it is often a matter of great 
public convenience to have the use of a school-house for 
religious meetings and other purposes of public utility, 
and such use should not be denied, except for abuse. 
It must always be understood, however, that all dam¬ 
ages and expenses must be borne by those thus using 
the house, and not by the district; and that such use is 
a matter of favor and not of right. The control and 
supervision of school-houses being vested in the Trus¬ 
tee, he may allow the use of the house, after the free 
schools are closed, for a private, select, subscription, or 
writing school, or for other purposes, if he see fit, or 
he may refuse to permit the house to be used for any 
such purpose, at his option. And if he grant the 
use of the house, he may impose upon the occupant 
such terms and conditions as he sees proper, provided 
that he must in all cases require the occupant to pay 
for his own fuel, etc., and to leave the property in as 
good condition, in all respects, as he found it. If he 
chooses to let the house for a private or select school, 
he has no right whatever to require the teacher of such 
school to obtain a certificate from the County Commis¬ 
sioner. He has no responsibility in regard to him or 


12 


156 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

his school. His jurisdiction in that respect is limited 
to the case of free public schools. 

6. A Trustee should see that the school-house (if 
worthy of protection) is assured, by adequate policies 
of insurance, against loss or damage by fire, and that 
the policies are regularly and promptly renewed at expi¬ 
ration. The premium may be considered as a necessary 
contingent expense, and be paid out of the capitation 
tax levied under authority of section 9 of this article. 

7. It is no doubt the intention of the law that every 
organized school district shall have its own school-house, 
and the duty of providing the same as soon as possible 
is clearly imposed upon each Trustee. But the tempo¬ 
rary use of a school-house situated beyond the limits of 
a particular district is not unlawful, or incompatible with 
the spirit and intent of the act, which is to afford the 
means of Common School instruction to all children of 
lawful age. A Trustee is required to provide school 
accommodations for all the school-going children of his 
district. In order to do this, he may be obliged, for the 
time being, to avail himself of a building beyond the bor¬ 
ders of his own district; or the convenience of the chil¬ 
dren may be temporarily consulted by so doing. The 
necessity may arise by the destruction of his own house, 
or inability to erect a new one in season, or the need of 
more room, and in 'many other ways. In such cases, 
the school belongs to the district, to all intents and pur¬ 
poses, under any fair construction of the law; as much 
so as if kept in a building within the bounds of the dis¬ 
trict. It is under the charge and control of the Trustee, 
is subject to all the rules and regulations established by 
the Trustee, and is common to the entire district. Its 
schedules should, therefore, be honored, and its expenses 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


157 


paid, the same as if the house were not across the dis¬ 
trict line. And for the same reasons, the funds of a dis¬ 
trict may lawfully be used, if necessary, for the repairs 
and improvement of a house in another district, so long 
as the use of the same is necessarily required for the 
accommodation of the school children of the other dis¬ 
trict. These principles are expressly declared by the 
Supreme Court of Illinois in the case of Grove vs. School 
Inspectors of Peoria, 20 III., 532, and they are equally 
applicable to our own State. 

8. When a Commissioner has legally condemned a 
school-house, and notified a Trustee thereof, and he 
fails to take the necessary steps to repair or build, a 
writ of mandamus will lie to the Trustee, commanding 
and compelling him to discharge his duty, and any citi¬ 
zen interested may sue out said writ. (. Beverly vs. Sa¬ 
bin, 20 III., 357, and Cotton vs. Reed, Ibid, 607.) 

9. If a Trustee rent a school-house, he cannot pay 
the rental out of the fund apportioned by the State to 
the district. Let it be observed here, once for all, that 
the School Fund apportioned a district can, in no 

CASE AND UNDER NO POSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES, BE EM¬ 
PLOYED FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE THAN THE PAYMENT OF 

the teacher’s wages. The law provides no way for 
paying the rent; and, unless the money can be raised 
by subscription, or the use of a house be tendered with¬ 
out cost, or the teacher agree to furnish it, the district 
must do without the school and the money pass into 
the county bond. 

10. In order to exempt school property from taxa¬ 
tion, it must be held by the School Trustee, under such 
title as will give him the right to possess and control it 
at all times for the use of the district. The fact that 


I 58 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

property may have once been used for the purposes 
of a public school, does not of itself give it the char¬ 
acter of public school property after it ceases to be so 
used. The school property which is exempt from tax¬ 
ation by statute embraces all lands donated for school 
purposes and not sold or leased; all public school- 
houses, with their books and furniture, etc., and the 
grounds attached to such buildings necessary for the 
proper occupancy, use, and enjoyment of the same, 
and not leased or otherwise used with a view to profit. 
Exemption from taxation, so far as property of public 
schools is concerned, is limited to such property as is 
actually used for school purposes, and is subject to the 
actual and exclusive control of Trustees. ( Section 3, 
article 1, chapter 92, General Statutes.) 

11. All male persons over sixteen and under fifty 
years of age, who are able to labor, except licensed 
Ministers of the Gospel,, are liable to work in the erec¬ 
tion of the school-house. ( Section 24, article i, chapter 
94, General Statutes.) Colored men are exempted by 
special clause in this section. 

12. The hands cannot be called out on a muster or an 
election day, or the first day of the term of any court. 
Two days’ previous notice, either written or verbal, of 
which the oath of the Trustee or person appointed by 
him to warn in the hands shall be prima facie evidence, 
shall be given of the days a hand is required to work on 
the school-house. ( Section 32, article 1, chapter 94, Gen¬ 
eral Statutes.) A school teacher is not exempt from 
working on a road, and hence, not from this duty. 

13. Every person so assigned to work on the school- 
house, who shall fail to attend with proper tools, with¬ 
out proper excuse, when called by the Trustee of his 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


159 


district, or who shall fail to labor when in attendance, 
or to furnish a proper substitute, shall be fined two dol¬ 
lars and fifty cents for each day he shall fail to attend, or 
shall attend and refuse to labor, by warrant in the name 
of the Commonwealth. In case the defaulter be an in¬ 
fant (a person under twenty-one years of age), the fine 
shall be paid by the father, guardian, or person in whose 
service he is engaged at the time. The fines so collected 
shall be applied to the benefit of the school-house of the 
district. (Section 25, article 1, chapter 94, General Stat¬ 
utes. ) 

§ 9. The Trustee shall have power to assess and collect a poll or 
capitation tax of not more than fifty cents per annum on all the patrons 
of the Common School of the district, the proceeds of which shall 
constitute a sinking fund for providing the school-house with fuel, 
and defraying other contingent expenses incident to the comfortable 
conduct of the school thereof. 

Remarks. 

I. By “patrons” in the school law is meant electors 
—all who have the statutory right to vote for a School 
Trustee. The capitation tax of fifty cents can be levied 
upon every voter in the district, whether or not having 
pupils of census age or sending children to school. 
Common Schools are instituted for the public good. 
Their object is to improve citizenship, and not prima¬ 
rily to confer a personal benefit. A man must work 
on highway whether he ever travels it with team, beast, 
or wagon. Trustees have the right to warrant parties 
refusing and compelling payment. It would be well to 
levy this tax in every instance; for, though it may not 
be needed for fuel, etc., it is desirable to accumulate a 
fund for furnishing the school-room with aids to teach¬ 
ing, &c. 


160 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

2. The Trustee must warrant the parties in case of 
failure to pay. He cannot collect by distraint. 

3. It is the duty of the Trustee to keep the school- 
house in repair. He should see to it that the windows 
are properly filled with glass; that the desks and seats 
are in good repair; that the out-houses are properly pro¬ 
vided with doors, and are frequently cleaned ; that the 
blackboards are kept painted, and everything is pro¬ 
vided necessary for the comfort of the pupils and the 
success of the school. 

4. It has been decided that Trustees have full author¬ 
ity to purchase furniture, apparatus, books, and what¬ 
ever else may be needful to furnish and equip their 
school-houses. Among the articles which they may 
procure under this head, are neat and durable desks 
and chairs, common and outline maps, globes, arith¬ 
metical and geometrical figures and apparatus, primary 
and other charts, reference books for the teacher’s desk, 
clocks, blackboards, crayons, brooms, pails, ash-buck¬ 
ets, dust-brushes, wash-bowls, shovels, tongs, scrapers, 
mats, clothing-hooks, etc., etc. The power of the Trus¬ 
tees to procure all these things, and any others that 
may be required for the complete equipment and fur¬ 
nishing of their schools, school-houses, and grounds, is 
clear and unquestionable. And to pay for them they 
may submit the question of taxation as provided in arti¬ 
cle 2, and use any surplus in their hands from this capi¬ 
tation tax for the purpose—all such things contributing 
“to the comfortable conduct of the school.” 

5. It is no part of a teacher’s duty to make the fires, 
sweep, prepare the fuel, etc., for his school-house, unless 
so stipulated or agreed in his contract with the board of 
directors. A teacher is employed to teach, not to make 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. l6l 

fires or use the broom, axe, or saw. These are services 
which have no connection whatever with his personal 
duties as teacher, and which he cannot, therefore, be 
required to perform under a general contract to teach 
the school. Whatever services and duties properly at¬ 
tach to the office of teacher, in addition to the great 
work of instructing and governing the school, such 
as preserving the house and its furniture, the fences, 
grounds, trees, shrubbery, etc., from injury by the pu¬ 
pils, may legally be required of him. But making fires, 
sweeping, sawing wood, etc., do not belong to his cate¬ 
gory. A teacher is under no more legal obligation, as 
a teacher, to saw and split the wood for the school 
stoves, than he is to bring it from the forest to the 
school-house. Nor is he under any more obligation 
to cause it to be done, or to see that it is done, unless 
he agrees to do so; and of course he is not liable for 
any expenses attending the performance of such ser¬ 
vices. All such services, and the expenses, if any, at¬ 
tending them, must be provided for by the Trustee, 
unless the teacher voluntarily assumes the responsibil¬ 
ity in his engagement with the Trustee. In common 
district schools such duties are, it is true, generally 
attended to voluntarily by the teachers and larger 
scholars, and it is an economical and commendable 
custom—one which I have no disposition to condemn. 
But it must be voluntary; it is not one of those cus¬ 
toms to which long acquiescence has given the force 
of law. Whatever expense attends such services (and 
it will always be trifling), may be provided for by the 
Trustee, without a vote, under this section. 

14 


162 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


g io. The Trustee shall have power to select a qualified teacher,, 
agree with him as to compensation, and for good cause, of which he 
shall be first notified in writing, remove him, subject to the approval 
of the Commissioner. 

Remarks. 

i. “A qualified teacher” is one having a certificate 
or license. A school is not legally taught a day by a 
teacher without this certificate. The Trustee should 
see to it that the person with whom he contracts has 
a certificate, to avoid all trouble. It is presumed, how¬ 
ever, that the person who applies to teach the Common 
School has this necessary condition to entering into an 
engagement. If the certificate should expire during the 
term, it should be renewed. Every day taught without 
a certificate is time lost to the teacher. No certificate to 
teach is valid without the Commissioner’s signature. 

An assistant teacher in a Common School must have 
a certificate. The draft of the Commissioner to the 
Superintendent is paid upon the assumption that the 
schools have been taught by qualified teachers; that 
is, in the meaning of the law, teachers having certifi¬ 
cates from the County or State Board of Examiners.. 

A Trustee is liable individually for the amount of 
school funds paid to a teacher who has no certificate. 

A teacher having taught school one month without a 
certificate, then went to the Commissioner and obtained 
a certificate from the County Board, and taught another 
week with the consent and approbation of the Trustee,, 
at the end of which time he abandoned the school. 
Held, that the continuing of the school as aforesaid, 
after he had obtained his certificate, was equivalent to 
making a new contract to begin at that time. The 
time taught without a certificate was lost. The teacher 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 1 63 

lost the week taught with a certificate, having contracted 
to teach a term, 

A teacher taken sick cannot employ a substitute. 
This is the province of the Trustee, and he cannot em¬ 
ploy a teacher without a certificate or license. 

2. A teacher who contracts to teach for a definite 
term, and leaves the school without just cause, cannot 
sustain an action for such services as were rendered. 

(Clark vs. School District in Pawlet , 29 Vt., 219.) 

3. If a teacher contracts to teach the statutory tefm 
and fails to complete his obligations, through a volun¬ 
tary forfeiture of the school, he is not legally entitled to 
any pay. Should he be removed by the Trustee, he is 
entitled to pay for the number of days he taught previ¬ 
ous to being legally removed. 

4. A Trustee has no right to contract with a teacher 
for a less sum than that apportioned to a district, the 
remainder to be appropriated to other purposes; but a 
teacher, if he so elects, can donate any part of his pay 
to the building or repairing of a school-house. How¬ 
ever, a contract to this effect could not be legally en¬ 
forced. 

5. A Trustee has absolute right to employ a teacher. 
Therefore, a popular vote to discharge a teacher and put 
another in his place has no legal force. It has been 
clearly decided by the State Board that “ unacceptabil¬ 
ity ” does not mean simply a preference of the majority. 

6. There was a contract between the teacher and Trus¬ 
tee containing a stipulation that she should leave if the 
school was not satisfactory. On account of her personal 
unpopularity with the patrons the Trustee desired her 
removal. It was decided that this was not sufficient 
ground. The school must be unsatisfactory. 


164 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

7. A principal of a collegiate institute agreed to teach 
the Common School for a period of five months for the 
public fund. Most of the pupils pursued the higher 
branches. The principal had a right to charge tuition 
fees for them. Only those pursuing Common School 
studies were entitled to free tuition. 

8. Teachers are only entitled to count the time while 
attending Institutes when their schools are in session. 
If the Institute occurs during vacation, they cannot 
legally reckon the time they were engaged in attendance 
upon the Institute. Teachers are entitled to count the 
statutory holidays, though they dismiss their schools. 
Should they teach on the holiday, they count two days, 
but the Trustee must agree to the teaching. 

9. There can be but one Common School to a dis¬ 
trict. When the number of pupils exceeds fifty and an 
assistant is employed, it should be in the same school 
with the principal. The Trustee has no right to divide 
the fund apportioned to a district between two or more 
schools. 

10. A school month is tw r enty-two days. 

11. Thfe dismissal of a teacher should be in writing, 
and the legal causes be assigned therein. 

12. It is not lawful 'for the Trustee to teach the Com¬ 
mon School in the district of which he is an officer. 

13. Thfe Trustee should never employ a teacher with 
a license when he can secure for the fund one having 
a certificate. A license is only to be granted when a 
teacher having a certificate cannot be obtained. 

14. A Commissioner appointed a Trustee, and this 
Trustee appointed a teacher, and this teacher contracted 
with an assistant teacher. A petition signed by a ma¬ 
jority of the patrons of the district was addressed to 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 1 65 

the Commissioner, asking the removal of the teacher 
and Trustee under article 5, section 18, chapter 18, 
General Statutes, upon the ground of “unacceptabil¬ 
ity.” The Commissioner decided that he would not 
remove the Trustee and teacher, whereupon sundry in¬ 
terested parties appealed to the State Board of Educa¬ 
tion. The Board sustained the Commissioner. In the 
opinion, as delivered, it was laid down that the prefer¬ 
ence of a majority of the patrons expressed in a memo¬ 
rial to the Commissioner is not “unacceptability” in the 
meaning of the law, but that specific grounds must be 
stated and made clear why a Trustee or teacher is unac¬ 
ceptable; that when a Trustee has made his appoint¬ 
ment, as in this case, and the teacher enters into contract 
with a third party, which has been done in the employ¬ 
ment of an assistant teacher, some very sufficient rea¬ 
sons must be shown establishing “unacceptability” in 
order to vitiate the contracts; that the removal of Trus¬ 
tees and teachers is in all cases to be very cautiously 
effected, it being due to the dignity and the rights of 
these officers that neither should be displaced except on 
the clearest proof, and after thorough investigation, and 
that a teacher wronged in this respect might seek redress 
for damages against those whom he deemed responsible 
for inflicting them. It was further expressed, and a very 
natural presumption exists, that the Commissioner acts 
in the premises according to his best judgment, and he 
is required to maintain the school interest of his county; 
and that when, in the face of an influential majority, he 
adheres to his determination to retain and support his 
appointee, the clearest proofs must be shown that the 
Trustee is disqualified for his office before the Board 


1 66 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

could undertake to overturn his decision to retain an 
officer of his appointment. 

15. A Trustee cannot force the patrons to pay any sum 
to supply a deficiency in the payment of the teacher’s 
salary. The only way the public fund can be supple¬ 
mented is by local taxation and subscription. The Trus¬ 
tee can enforce the payment of a subscription. What 
was known under the Revised Statutes as the rate fea¬ 
ture was abolished by the adoption of the General Stat¬ 
utes. Trustees should be careful to contract for no larger 
sum than a solvent subscription, the local tax (expenses 
of collection deducted), and the public fund apportioned 
the district will yield. If he does so, he makes himself 
personally responsible. 

16. If a teacher goes to his school-room regularly, he 
is entitled to count his time, though there be no pupils 
in attendance. He is not to be held responsible for the 
indifference of parents and the truancy of pupils. By a 
rule of the Board, he may leave, after having remained 
two hours and no pupils having come. Should one pupil 
come , he must teach it in order to count the day. 

17. A teacher’s certificate cannot be legally granted 
to an applicant of known bad moral character. Immor¬ 
ality is a good cause for the removal of a teacher by the 
Trustee. A teacher who gets drunk on Saturday, but 
is sober during school days, has been adjudged to be a 
person of defective moral character within the purview 
of the law. 

18. The annulling of a certificate annuls a contract. 
As the law requires the Trustee to contract with “a qual¬ 
ified teacher,” it is an implied condition of the contract 
that the teacher shall keep himself “qualified.” If, 
however, the Trustee continues to employ him, he can- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


167 

not pay him any public money, and the State is in no¬ 
wise bound. 

The dissatisfaction of scholars and parents is no cause 
for the dismissal of a teacher. (Paul vs. School District 
in Hard and, 28 Ft., 575.) 

19. Teachers may be dismissed for causes specified in 
the act, one of which is incompetency. As each Trus¬ 
tee is authorized to determine for himself the question 
of competency, so far as his own school is concerned, it 
follows that he may dismiss a teacher on the ground of 
incompetency, notwithstanding said teacher may have a 
certificate from the County Board of Examiners. With 
whatever fidelity the County Board may endeavor to dis¬ 
charge its duty, it can form but an imperfect judgment, 
as a general rule, of the moral character, and especially 
of the teaching ability of the candidate, and hence, al¬ 
though the Commissioner may be warranted in granting 
a certificate, the person may fail as a practical teacher, 
or in ability to meet the requirements of a particular 
school, and, in such case, a Trustee would be authorized 
to discharge him from his service. A teacher may suc¬ 
ceed in one school, and yet fail in another, where the 
standard of excellence is much higher, or where the 
pupils are more turbulent. While the law does not 
require the Trustee to assign specific reasons for the dis¬ 
missal of a teacher, yet a sense of justice, and a proper 
regard for the reputation of the teacher, should prompt 
him to do so. A teacher feeling aggrieved by the ac¬ 
tion of the Trustee in discharging him, may sue him for 
his wages, or other damages, and thus compel him to 
show cause for the dismissal, and to support his allega¬ 
tions by adequate proof. 


1 68 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

The principle has been clearly settled by the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, that, where a teacher obtains the prop¬ 
er certificate of qualification from the County Commis¬ 
sioner, and is employed to teach a Common School, 
he may, nevertheless, be discharged by the Trustee of 
the district for incompetency or neglect of duty; but 
that it devolves upon the Trustee to prove the fact, in 
case an action is brought against him by the teacher. 
Also, that the possession of a certificate, is prima facie 
evidence of the fact of the teacher’s competency; and, 
hence, that when the Trustee discharges such a teacher, 
after he has been employed, he assumes the burthen of 
proving the existence of the grounds for which he is 
discharged. In considering the grounds upon which a 
teacher may be discharged for incompetency or neglect 
of duty, the court further say, that the law does not 
require the highest possible qualifications, but only fan 
attainments and ability, and the usual diligence and 
application to the discharge of his duties, to fulfill his 
contract. The opinion of the court is strongly to the 
effect that, after a teacher has obtained a certificate, 
been employed, and entered upon duty, he should not 
be discharged without the clearest proof of incompe¬ 
tency or palpable neglect of duty, in default of which, 
on the part of the Trustee, inferior courts should find 
for the teacher. The testimony of the pupils as to the 
teacher’s ability and fidelity is to be received with much 
caution, and occasional or trifling errors in recitation, or 
inaccuracies of scholarship, or casual laxity of discipline 
or tardiness of action, or failure to secure the rapid ad¬ 
vancement of particular scholars—-these things, whether 
alleged or real, are inconsequential when weighed against 
the favorable presumption warranted by the possession 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


169 

of a legal certificate, and the evidence of general success 
and fidelity. The opinion of the court settles another 
important point. The cause or causes assigned for dis¬ 
missal in the written notice thereof is conclusive, and 
estops from showing any other or different causes. ( Ed¬ 
win B. Neville vs. School Directors , District No. 1, 36 

III; 7 I-) 

For the convenience of Trustees, we give a form of 
agreement between the Trustee and teacher: 

It is agreed by and between-, teacher, and the Trustee 

of school district No. —, in-county, that said teacher 

shall, under the supervision and exclusive direction of said Trustee 
and his successor, but subject, nevertheless, to the visitation and 

lawful authority of the County Commissioner, teach in- 

school-house for the term of - months, at a compensation of 

-dollars, reserving the right of dismissing the said teacher 

at any time whatever, for any of the causes specified in the Common 
School laws. 

It is also agreed that the fire shall be made, or caused to be made, 
and the floor be regularly swept, or caused to be swept, in said house, 
during said term, by the said [teacher or Trustee )—the said Trustee 
providing the fuel and brooms therefor. 

A. B., Trustee. 

G. H., Teacher. 

§ 11. He may appoint a collector to collect all sums due the teacher 
by subscription or otherwise, and allow him a reasonable compensa¬ 
tion therefor. 

Remarks. 

1. Should the tax authorized by article 2 be voted 
for the payment of the teacher’s salary, and the sheriff 
should neglect to collect the same, the Trustee may, 
under the authority of this section, appoint a collector 
to do it. 

2. Should the collector be required to give bond, the 
following form will answer: 

15 







170 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Know all men by these presents, that we, A. B., the collector of 

school district No. —, in the county of-, C. D., and E. F. [his 

sureties], are held and firmly bound unto the said district, in the sum 
of [here insert a sum of double the amount expected to come into the 
collector’s hands], to be paid to the said district; for the payment of 
which sum well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, 
executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these 
presents. 

The condition of this obligation is such that if A. B., collector of 
said district, shall faithfully apply all moneys that shall come into his 
hands, by virtue of his office, then this obligation shall be void; oth¬ 
erwise of full force and virtue. 

Sealed with our seals, and dated this — day of -, A. D. 18—. 

A. B., [l. s.] 

C. D., [l. s.] 

E. F., [l. s.] 

\ 12. It shall be the duty of the Trustee to invite and encourage all 
the white children in the district to attend the school, and to inform 
them and their parents that such is their right, for which the State 
pays, though they themselves may contribute nothing towards paying 
the expenses of the school. The annual report of the Trustee shall 
always show that this duty has been performed ; and no arrangement 
shall be made for the benefit of some individuals to the exclusion of 
any others. 

Remarks. 

1. Notices posted in three or more places of the open¬ 
ing of the free school, and inviting all pupil children in 
the district to attend, is a sufficient discharge of the duty 
enjoined in this section. 

2. It should be clearly and universally understood that 
what was formerly known as the “rate feature” has been 
rescinded from the law. No tuition fees can be required 
of a patron of a Common School. The only possible 
ways by which the teachers’ salaries can be supplemented 
are by district taxation and voluntary subscriptions. If 
other branches than those prescribed in the Common 
School course are taught, they may be charged for, but 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


171 

the teaching of such branches must in nowise interfere 
with the proper instruction of other pupils in the curric¬ 
ulum prescribed for the public schools. 

3. Children, other than those entitled to free tuition, 
may be admitted with the consent of the Trustee and 
teacher, and in payment of such tuition fees as may be 
required, provided that such admission does not over¬ 
crowd the school, or otherwise seriously impair its effi¬ 
ciency. 

§ 13. When a school begins, the Trustee, within five days thereaf¬ 
ter, shall visit the school, and thereafter once a month ; see that the 
regulations for its government are complied with, and that the teacher 
performs his duty. Upon complaint of the teacher, he shall have 
power to expel a pupil. 

Remarks. 

1. Visitation cannot be performed by proxy; but the 
Trustee may take with him any person he may choose, 
for the purpose of assisting him to form an opinion of 
the competency of the teacher. 

2. Trustees are empowered by law to adopt, prescribe, 
and enforce all necessary rules and regulations for the 
management and government of the school, and the con¬ 
duct of the scholars. The authority conferred embraces 
whatever measures are necessary to secure regularity and 
punctuality of attendance, propriety and decorum of 
conduct in and about school buildings, prompt obedi¬ 
ence to the teacher, and whatever else they may deem 
essential to the maintenance of discipline and good or¬ 
der, and to the successful prosecution of study. The 
right of Trustees to make all such necessary rules and 
regulations, and to enforce compliance therewith by suit¬ 
able penalties, is clear and unquestionable, and in the 
exercise of this right they cannot be interfered with or 


172 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

restricted, except for manifest abuse of powers granted,, 
or an unwarrantable assumption of authority not con¬ 
ferred by the act. It is to be distinctly understood that 
the right to enforce is commensurate with the right to 
prescribe rules and regulations. Trustees may, there¬ 
fore, compel obedience, and punish, by suspension, ex¬ 
pulsion, or otherwise, any obstinate infraction of the 
rules which they have established. The teacher is the 
agent by whom the rules ‘adopted by the State Board of 
Education and the Trustee are executed; his right to 
enforce obedience is, therefore, sustained by the sanc¬ 
tion of law and the official authority of the Trustee. 
Recourse to dismissal or expulsion from school should 
not, however, be had, except for very grave and aggra¬ 
vated offenses. No pupil can be expelled from the pub¬ 
lic schools for a frivolous or light and trivial cause. The 
teacher possesses the power and has the right to control 
the school by means of proper punishment; and it is his 
duty to coerce obedience to the rules of the school by 
proper and reasonable punishment, if it can be done, 
before the pupil is expelled from the school. It is only 
when reasonable means, or punishment of the refractory 
scholar, have failed to induce obedience, that he can 
be justified in expelling such scholar. If, however, a 
scholar persists in disobeying the teacher, after proper 
admonition or punishment, to such an extent as to jus¬ 
tify the belief that the course of disobedience will be 
continued, then the Trustee will be justified in expelling 
the scholar. 

[See rules and regulations for government of schools 
prescribed by State Board of Education under comments 
on article 3.] 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


173 


3. It is the duty of Commissioners to provide each 
Trustee with a copy of the rules prescribed by the State 
Board of Education. These rules are mandatory, and 
have all the force and effect of a legislative statute. 

§ 14. It shall be the duty of the Trustee of each district annually, 
r during the month of April, to take an exact census of all the white 
children then residing in such district, who will be, on the first day 
of July following, between the ages of six and twenty years, and on 
or before the first day of May, report a list of the same to the Com¬ 
missioner, specifying the same, age, sex, and names of the parents or 
guardian of each child. Should said Trustee willfully add to the list 
the names of persons not entitled to be placed on the same, or other¬ 
wise knowingly make a false list, each person thus offending shall, in 
addition to being liable to punishment for the crime of perjury, be 
subject to a fine of not less than fifty dollars; and should any other 
school officer be a party to such fraudulent lists, or any way aid in the 
commission of such fraud, he shall be liable to the same punishment. 
For a failure to take such census and report the same within the time 
and in the same manner herein required, the Trustee shall be liable 
to a fine of not less than twenty dollars; and said Trustee shall not 
take the census of any children who have recently removed into the 
district, and who have previously been reported in the census of pupil 
children for the year in. the district from which they have removed. 

Remarks. 

1. In this census should be embraced the children 
actually residing in the district, and no others. Chil¬ 
dren merely attending school in the district, while their 
parents or guardians reside elsewhere, should not be 
enumerated, as they are properly enumerated in the dis¬ 
tricts in which their parents reside. But a child that has 
been adopted by, or is regularly apprenticed to, a resi¬ 
dent of the district, may be properly included in the 
school census. 

2. Children in alms-houses, orphanages, or asylums, 
and not, otherwise residents of the districts in which such 
institutions are located, should be enumerated in the 



174 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

school census, except the deaf and dumb and blind and 
feeble-minded, for whom special schools are provided by 
the State. 

3. Children of aliens should be included in the census, 
if residents of the district. 

4. The census must include only those who will be 
between the ages of six and twenty the succeeding first 
day of July. A child who will be six years of age on 
the second of July, or a person who will be twenty on 
the thirtieth day of June, are not proper pupils for enu¬ 
meration. All children legally reported in the census 
are entitled to the benefit of the school for the year in 
which they are enrolled. Should a pupil, after having 
been enrolled in one district, remove to another, it is 
•entitled to free tuition in that district to which it has 
removed. But no child is entitled to more than five 
months’ tuition in the public schools in the same school 
year. 

5. A person under 20 years of age, though married, 
should be reported. 

6. “Is a child not reported by the Trustee in April, 
and who is six years of age before the public school is 
taught, entitled to attend the Common School free of 
charge?” No. He must be six years of age on the 
first day of July. Should he be six years of age on the 
second day, he would not be a pupil for that year within 
the meaning of the law. Should a person be twenty 
years of age on the thirtieth of June, he is not a proper 
pupil; but if twenty years of age on the second day of 
July, he is entitled to be reported in the census for that 
year. 

7. When the apportionment tables have been made 
out no mistakes can be corrected, the rectification of 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


175 


which increases the number of pupil children. When 
the apportionment is made, the sum of money at the 
disposal of the Superintendent is divided by the ag¬ 
gregate number of pupil children, the quotient is the 
per capita , and this process exhausts the public fund. 
Where the number of pupils reported in a district is 
too large, the error can be corrected, for its rectification 
leaves money in the treasury. For instance, forty chil¬ 
dren may have been erroneously reported. The law re¬ 
quires a five months’ school in a district where there are 
forty or more children. It may be desirable to teach a 
three months’ school. If, then, thirty-nine children is 
the right number, the error can be corrected and a three 
months’ school be taught. 

8. A Commissioner in reclaiming territory of a 
fractional district must notify the Commissioner of 
the county formerly reporting the district, in writing, 
before the time for taking the census, and also the 
Trustee of the district to be affected by the change. 
Children must go to school in the district in which 
they are reported in the census, unless their parents 
or guardians remove within the bounds of another dis¬ 
trict. 

9. The fact that a pupil has not been reported in the 
census does not debar him from the benefit of the schools 
of his district. A pupil moving into a district from an¬ 
other in which he was reported in the census is entitled 
to the benefit of the school in the district to which he 
removes, provided he has not enjoyed this benefit in 
the district from which he has removed. Every pupil 
child in the State is entitled to the benefits of the Com¬ 
mon School for the time it is taught, whether reported 
or not in the census. Trustees in making contracts must 


I76 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

not engage teachers for a certain number of pupils, but 
to teach all who are entitled to the benefits of the Com¬ 
mon School for the public fund apportioned to the dis¬ 
trict. There can be no such thing as a tuition fee and 
rating the pupils, and crediting the per caput upon the 
bills for instruction. In the Common Schools the only 
way to supplement the teacher’s salary is by voluntary 
subscription or by local taxation. 

10. In the case of all new-comers, the Trustee must be 
careful to inquire whether their children have been listed 
in any other district. If they have they cannot be listed 
in the district to which they remove, but they are enti¬ 
tled to go to school the same as if included in the cen¬ 
sus there. 

§ 15. Whenever a district shall become entitled to receive its pro¬ 
portion of the revenue, or a part thereof, as provided in section ten, 
article one, of this chapter, by reason of having had a school taught 
in full or for one half of the session, by the 15th of February, 15th 
of May, and 1st of July, or for one half of the session, by January 
15th, in any year, it shall be the duty of the Trustee of such district 
to immediately make report thereof to the Commissioner ; and at the 
termination of each school year they shall make a report to the Com¬ 
missioner, embracing the detailed and tabular statistics, and informa¬ 
tion in respect to their district, as specified and enjoined upon the 
Commissioner to be made for the county in his annual report to the 
Superintendent in article five, section sixteen, of this chapter. 

Remarks. 

1. A school half taught by January 15th is entitled 
to 40 per cent. pay. If wholly taught out by this time, 
only forty per cent, can be paid. The remainder must 
be paid February 15 th. The reason is, that, owing to 
the nature of our revenue laws, the money is not in the 
Treasury so early with which to make a full payment. 
A school half taught out by the 15 th of February, 15 th 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


1 77 


•of May can receive forty per cent, payment. A school 
entirely taught out by 15 th of February and May, 1st 
of July can receive full pay. 

2. The report here required to be made may be found 
in the Teacher’s Register, and should always be filled out 
by the Trustee at the time he reports the school for 
final payment. The teacher should insist on the Trus¬ 
tee making this report, that he may not be embarrassed 
in getting his pay. Until all the Trustees make full and 
faithful reports we can never know what results we are 
achieving, or what progress we are making. 

§ 16. For a failure or refusal of the Trustee to make either of the 
reports mentioned in the last section within thirty days after the same 
are required to be made, he shall be subjected to a fine of not less 
than twenty dollars, and besides, shall be liable to an action for dam¬ 
ages by any person injured thereby. 

Remark. 

Trustees will do well to consider this penalty, as for 
the neglect of duty they are liable to indictment by a 
grand jury, besides action for damages. Every sivorn 
officer should be jealous of his reputation for prompt¬ 
ness in the performance of duty and respect for obliga¬ 
tion. 

§ 17. The reports required of the Trustee shall, in every case, be 
signed by him. 

§ 18. A Trustee, when he resigns, vacates, is removed, or goes out 
of office, shall, within ten days thereafter, deliver to his successor any 
money, property, books, or papers, in his custody as Trustee; and for 
failure herein he may be fined any sum not exceeding twenty dollars; 
and it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to report all such defaults 
to the grand jury. 

Remarks. 

1. A Trustee removing from the district vacates the 

office. 


178 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


2 . If a Trustee is to be gone a considerable length of 
time, thus embarrassing the school interests of his dis¬ 
trict, he should resign, or, in failure thereof, the Com¬ 
missioner should declare a vacancy, and promptly supply 
the place with one who can perform the duties. 

$ 19. For any neglect of duty or misfeasance in office, the Trustee 
shall, in addition to being fined as aforesaid, be removed from office by 
the Commissioner. 

Remarks. 

1. A failure to enforce the rules and regulations of 
the State Board of Education, to monthly visit the 
school, to provide fuel, etc., for the school-house, are 
instances of neglect of duty justifying removal. 

2. Employing a teacher without a certificate, allowing 
more than one text-book on the same subject to pupils 
of the same grade to be taught, making a false census 
report, and appropriation of any portion of the public 
funds to other uses than the payment of the teacher, are 
instances of misfeasance. 

§ 20. The oath of office administered to a Trustee, upon his induc¬ 
tion into office, shall suffice for the term thereof. 

Remark. 

The Trustee does not have to swear to any of the 
reports required of him. He may be sworn by a mag¬ 
istrate, but if so, his taking the oath should be certified 
to the Commissioner immediately. 

§ 21. The Trustee, in consideration of his services, shall be exempt 
from duty as overseer or a hand upon a public highway, from service 
as a juror upon inquests or writs of ad quod damnuvi, and from mili¬ 
tia duty, and from penalty for non-attendance upon his summons as 
grand or petit juror. 

Remark. 

A Trustee is exempt from working upon the public 
highway. When a tax to work the roads is levied, it 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


179 


has been decided that the Trustee is exempt from its 
payment. The statute exempts the Trustee from cer¬ 
tain duties in consideration of his otherwise unrequited 
services, and where taxation is substituted for labor, he 
enjoys the benefit of this exemption. 

Note.— Section 22 of article 7, having been declared 
unconstitutional by the Court of Appeals, is omitted here. 

Article VIII. — Teachers. 

\ 1. No person shall be deemed qualified to teach any Common 
School herein provided for unless such person shall first have obtained 
a certificate of qualification to teach the elements of a plain English 
education, signed by two members of the County Board of Examin¬ 
ers, or two members of the State Board of Examiners, specifying the 
class of qualifications of the applicants. Certificates shall be first- 
class or second-class, and each class shall be first grade or second 
grade. Those who understand clearly the principles involved in the 
subject to be taught, as well as the forms in which they are expressed, 
shall be entitled to first-class, first grade certificate ; those who know 
the forms well, and have a knowledge of principles, but not clear, 
shall be entitled to first-class, second grade certificate; those who 
know the forms well, but not the principles, shall be entitled to a 
second-class, first grade certificate. When the Board of Examiners 
are satisfied that a particular district will not be able to procure a 
qualified teacher, they may issue a special license to a teacher, to 
whom they have refused a certificate, to teach in that district, but 
not elsewhere, in a specified school year. No certificate of the same 
grade, except first grade, first-class, shall be issued to the same person 
more than twice. Certificates of the second-class, and of the second 
grade of the first-class, shall expire in two years from their date. A 
first-class, first grade certificate shall be valid for four years from its 
date, and may be continued four years longer by the Commissioner 
indorsing thereon “ renewed,” and subscribing his name, for which 
no fee shall be charged. But no certificate shall be valid out of the 
county in which it is granted. The State Board of Education shall 
define the qualification necessary in order to procure a certificate of 
the several classes and grades. 


i8o 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Remarks. 

1. The County Board of Examiners is composed of 
the Commissioner, who is chairman ex officio , and two 
competent members appointed by him. 

2. The qualification required of a candidate for a cer¬ 
tificate is “to teach the elements of a plain English edu¬ 
cation.” It is not unfrequently the case that a person 
maybe thoroughly versed in certain'branches, and yet 
be void of all aptitude to impart instruction and to draw 
out mind. The Board, in grading a certificate, should, 
therefore, address itself more to the teaching capacity of 
an applicant than to the amount of knowledge he may 
possess. Theory and practice of teaching is, hence, 
clearly implied. “How would you teach so and so? 
how would you help a pupil over this or that difficulty?” 
should be questions frequently repeated during an ex¬ 
amination. The • art of teaching being of so great im¬ 
portance, the Examiners should value highly a habit of 
inquiry into the best methods of instruction. If the 
candidate has read, and is familiar with the best treatise 
on pedagogics, and is a subscriber of a school journal, 
these facts should add at least twenty per cent, to the 
merit of an examination, and also help to determine the 
class and grade of a certificate. 

3. A certificate dates from the day on which it is given 
to a corresponding day in the year in which it expires. 
For instance, a first-class, first grade certificate, given on 
the 4th of July, 1878, would expire on the 4th of July, 
1882, and all other certificates in like manner expire two 
years from date. 

4. An examination is not necessary for the renewal of 
a.first-class certificate. If the Commissioner is satisfied 
as to the continued good moral character of a teacher, 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. l8l 

and of his scholarship, he can renew by indorsement. 
It is always the privilege of a Commissioner and Board, 
however, to require a re-examination if they so desire, 
and to give such a grade of certificate as the examina¬ 
tion merits. A State certificate can only be renewed by 
the State Board of Education. 

5. A Commissioner cannot make valid, in his own 
county, a certificate granted in another county by in¬ 
dorsement. There must be an examination by the 
County Board. 

6. A license is only good for one term and for a speci¬ 
fied district, and must never be granted except in cases 
where a “qualified teacher” (one having a certificate) 
cannot be secured. 

7. The following definition of what is meant by sec¬ 
tion 1 of article 8, latter clause, was adopted by the 
State Board of Education: 

“By principles are meant the elements that inhere 
in the branch of study. That which is fundamental is 
a principle. Every form is constructed upon principle. 
A form may be recognized by observation. An analy¬ 
sis of that form, and an application of the principle or 
rule at every stage of the distribution of the subject, 
constitutes what is meant by understanding the princi¬ 
ples. 

“In grammar there are certain rules upon which 
the whole science is formulated. A knowledge of these 
rules, and the ability to employ them to the analysis 
and parsing of a sentence, constitutes a knowledge of 
the principles. In grammar a knowledge of declen¬ 
sions, conjugations, etc., is defined to be a knowledge 
of forms. 


182 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


“In reference to the grading of Teachers’ certificates, 
it was resolved that the scale of gradation be one hund¬ 
red ; that a per centage of seventy-five should entitle a 
Teacher to a first grade, first-class certificate; that a per 
centage of sixty per cent, should entitle a teacher to a 
second grade, first-class certificate; and that a per cent¬ 
age of fifty should entitle a teacher to a second-class cer¬ 
tificate. 

“It is recommended by the Board to the County Ex¬ 
aminers that examinations for certificates be by written 
questions and answers, and the Superintendent of Pub¬ 
lic Instruction is hereby instructed to furnish the various 
Boards of Examiners with printed questions upon the 
subjects embraced in the Common School course. 

“It is also recommended that County Boards of Ex¬ 
aminers appoint fixed days for the examination of teach¬ 
ers, and that they decline to examine at other times.” 

8. A teacher must have a certificate from the County 
or State Board of Examiners to qualify him to teach a 
Common School. A teacher’s certificate must be ob¬ 
tained prior to teaching the school. No money can 
be drawn for a school unless it has been taught by a 
“qualified teacher”—by which is meant one that has 
a certificate. The reason is obvious. The purpose of 
requiring a certificate is to be assured of the qualifica¬ 
tions of the teacher in advance. He is not to practice 
on his pupils—keep one day ahead of his classes, and 
thus by going to school to himself fit himself to stand 
the ordeal of an examination, which he could not have 
stood at the beginning. Such a procedure is a fraud 
upon the district. 

9. It is legal for a Commissioner to teach a public 
school. He must have a certificate signed by two 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


183 


Examiners. The Commissioner receives the Trustee’s 
report. In cases of difference arising between the Com¬ 
missioner (as a teacher) and his Trustee, the Commis¬ 
sioner, in his capacity as such, decides, and if the 
Trustee is dissatisfied, he has a right of appeal to the 
State Board of Education. 

10. An assistant teacher in a Common School must 
have a certificate. The draft of the Commissioner to 
the Superintendent is paid upon the assumption that the 
schools have been taught by qualified teachers; that is, 
in the meaning of the law, teachers having certificates 
from the County or State Board of Examiners. 

\ 2. The County School Commissioner shall appoint two competent 
and well educated persons, who, together with himself, shall consti¬ 
tute a Board of Examiners for the county, who shall*examine all the 
teachers applying to teach the Common Schools of the county. The 
said Board of Examiners shall hold their sessions on the third and 
fourth Saturdays in July and August, and in December and January 
of each school year, at the county seat, and at such other times and 
places as they may appoint, giving public notice thereof, for the 
examination of teachers for the Common Schools. The Commis¬ 
sioner and at least one member of the Board shall be present and 
conduct all such examinations, and shall sign all certificates of quali¬ 
fication given. Said Examiners appointed by the Commissioner, 
before they shall be authorized to give any certificate, shall take and 
subscribe an oath that they will faithfully discharge their duties, that 
they will not give to any person a certificate until they have fully 
examined the applicant touching his qualifications and fitness to teach, 
and that they will not give to any one a certificate who is not qualified 
to teach as required by the Common School law; said affidavit shall 
be filed in the office of the clerk of the county court. 

Remarks. 

1. The presence of the Commissioner is necessary to 
a legal examination. The signature of a Commissioner 
to a certificate is absolutely required, and no certificate 
can be valid without it. Should the two Examiners 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


I 84 

agree as to the qualifications of a candidate, the Com¬ 
missioner still holds the veto power, and can withhold 
the certificate. 

2. The following form of an oath, to be administered 
to the Examiners, should be observed: 

“I, A. B., do solemnly swear that I will conduct all examinations 
for teachers’ certificates in this county without partiality and with dil¬ 
igence, and will not grant a certificate to any applicant who is legally 
disqualified, nor a higher certificate than a rigid examination, in my 
judgment, merits. So help me God.” 

[Signed] A. B., 

Examiner of - County. 

Date-. 

This oath must be filed in the office of the clerk of 
the county court. Should the Commissioner neglect to 
qualify his Examiners, he would be guilty of an indict¬ 
able offense. 

3. For manner of conducting examinations, see chap¬ 
ter in Appendix, “Examiners .” 

$ 3. The Board may charge each applicant a fee of one dollar, for 
each examination made, the proceeds of which shall be divided be¬ 
tween the two members of the Board appointed by and acting with 
the Commissioner, in proportion to the services rendered by them. 
They shall give no certificate to any teacher unless they are satisfied 
that such teacher is possessed of a good moral character, knowledge 
of the branches of study examined on, and a fair ability to teach and 
govern a school, sufficient to warrant the grade or class of certificate 
given; and if, at any time, the recipient be found incompetent or 
inefficient, or otherwise unworthy of the indorsement given him, the 
Commissioners may revoke the same ; and any teacher dismissed from 
a school on such grounds shall be entitled to receive payment for ser¬ 
vices only up to the time of such dismissal. 

Remarks. 

t. A profane, dissipated, untruthful, licentious, gamb¬ 
ling, or dishonest person is not entitled to an exami¬ 
nation. If the Board has any doubt as to the moral 




COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 1 85 

character of an applicant, it can require him to produce 
satisfactory proof of his morality. It should never pro¬ 
ceed upon the presumption that a candidate is moral. 
It must knozv this. The Board may collect the fee of 
an applicant and proceed to the inquiry as to his charac¬ 
ter, and should it turn out that he is morally disquali¬ 
fied, may retain the fee. 

2. The Commissioner shall examine any charge af¬ 
fecting the moral character of any teacher within his 
jurisdiction, first serving each teacher with a copy of 
the same in writing, and giving the accused an oppor¬ 
tunity of defense; and if he find the allegation proven, 
it is his duty to revoke the teacher’s certificate, even 
though it be granted by the State Board of Examiners . 

3. In Massachusetts a Superintendent refused to ex¬ 
amine a female who applied for examination, believing 
that her moral character was not good; and his refusal 
to examine was also based on a belief of her capacity 
to teach a Common School. She appealed, proved her 
moral character, and the Superintendent was directed to 
examine her in relation to her qualifications as a teacher 
of Common Schools, and if she was found to possess 
sufficient literary ability, to grant her a certificate. The 
Superintendent examined her and found that she had 
the requisite learning and capacity to teach, and ten¬ 
dered her a certificate to that effect, but refused, on con¬ 
scientious grounds, to certify her moral character. The 
court held that the Superintendent had done all that 
the law could exact from him. ( People vs. Masters , 21 
Barb., 261.) It was further held in this case, that by 
the appeal the question of moral character was deter¬ 
mined, and the State Superintendent’s decision on that 

16 


186 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

question, together with the town superintendent’s cer- 
tificate of literary qualifications, would entitle the can¬ 
didate to teach. 

4. A Trustee is authorized to remove a teacher 4 ‘for 
good cause,” and the Commissioner for anything render¬ 
ing him “unworthy of the indorsement given him,” and 
there can be no doubt but that immorality is a good 
cause for removal or revocation. 

5. In Michigan it was decided that “a person who 
openly derides all religion ought not to be a teacher of 
youth.” 

6. A teacher’s certificate cannot be legally granted to 
an applicant of known bad moral character. Immoral¬ 
ity is a good cause for the removal of a teacher by the 
Trustee. A teacher who gets drunk on Saturday, but 
is sober during school days, has been adjudged to be a 
person of defective moral character within the purview 
of the law. 

§ 4. It shall be the duty of each teacher of a Common School to 
keep such a register of the school as the Commissioner may require 
of him; and within tan days after the close of the session he shall 
make a report of the highest, lowest, and average number of pupils 
in attendance during the session; the books used, the branches 
taught, the number of pay pupils, if any, in attendance, and such 
other information as may be deemed of importance and interest; and 
he shall furnish a copy of such report to the Commissioner; and if he 
shall neglect or fail to do this, the Commissioner shall withhold twenty 
dollars of his salary due for the benefit of the district. 

Remarks. 

1. The State Superintendent has furnished the Com¬ 
missioners with a register for each district, and the State 
Board of Education requires that the Commissioners 
should see that these registers are kept, and that they 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 1 87 

are returned with the teacher’s and Trustee’s report. 
(See remark 2 under section 8, article 4.) 

2. It requires but a trifle of the teacher’s time to keep 
this register and to obtain the Trustee’s report. If there 
is one who is so indifferent to the matter as to totally 
neglect it, he ought to be cashiered of his certificate. 
One great trouble in Kentucky in regard to our schools 
is the contempt with which the law and rules and regu¬ 
lations are treated. We never can perfect our system 
until Superintendent, Commissioners, the county judges, 
the State and County Boards of Examiners, the Trus¬ 
tees and the teachers, the State Board of Education, and 
the County Court of Claims, and the grand juries of 
the Commonwealth treat the School System as a part 
of the government, and scrupulously respect the laws 
which are intended to regulate its every movement. 

§ 5. Teachers shall faithfully enforce in school the course of study 
and the regulations prescribed in pursuance of law; and if any teacher 
shall willfully refuse or neglect to comply with such requisitions, the 
Commissioner, on petition or complaint of the Trustee, may remove 
or dismiss him, and withhold any part of the School Fund money due 
for teaching the school. Every teacher shall have the power and 
authority to hold every pupil to a strict accountability in school for 
any disorderly conduct on the way to or from the school, or on the 
play-ground of the school, or during intermission or recess, and to sus¬ 
pend from school any pupil for good cause: Provided , That such sus¬ 
pension shall be reported as soon as practicable to the Trustee by the 
teacher; and if such action is not sustained by him, he may appeal to 
the Commissioner, whose decision of the case shall be final. 

Remarks. 

1. Teachers are required to enforce the rules and reg¬ 
ulations prescribed by the State Board of Education. 
(See these under section 1, article 3.) The rules and reg¬ 
ulations for the government of Common Schools adopted 


188 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


by the State Board of Education are not optional, but 
mandatory. They have all the binding effect of a leg¬ 
islative statute, and it is the official duty of Trustee 
and teacher to see that they are enforced. Neither the 
Trustee nor teacher can enact any rules that conflict with 
these. When we can secure a uniform respect for law 
in the official management of a Common School System 
we shall be able to reduce it to order, relieve it from the 
influence of mere parental or provincial caprice, and put 
all its parts to work in harmony under the direction of 
unprejudiced intelligence. A School Trustee and teacher 
are under as high obligations to enforce law with respect 
to the district school as are constables and magistrates 
in their respective offices. 

2 . A teacher can expel a pupil from the public school 

because he refuses to read in-Reader. The general 

principle stated is, that the System of Common Schools 
instituted is at the expense of the State, and that the 
Commonwealth has the right to decide what is the best 
interest of the schools. Public schools are not simply 
for private benefit, but for the common good. The 
State has a right to make laws, universal in their appli¬ 
cation, which will secure the most perfect organization 
of the schools, and the production of the highest results 
in the matter of education. If the preferences and ca¬ 
prices of patrons are allowed to come in as controlling 
influences, it would be impossible to grade the pupils, and 
therefore to economize toil and time—two features so 
essential to the teacher’s greatest usefulness—and, hence, 
the patron must not say what studies the pupil shall pur¬ 
sue, or what text-book he must use. The teacher, having 
examined the pupils, grades them according to his best 
judgment, and designates the book to be used by the 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


189 


class. If the pupil refuses to pursue the studies assign¬ 
ed, and to procure the text-books prescribed, the teacher* 
has the right to refuse to instruct him in studies and 
classes to which he has not been assigned. Of course 
^parents feeling aggrieved may appeal to the Trustee, and 
from the Trustee to the Commissioner. There is no privity 
of contract between the parents of pupils and the teacher. 
This contract is with the Trustee, who represents the 
State. The law vests a plenary power in the agents of 
the State to arrange, classify, and distribute pupils as 
they think best adapted to their general proficiency and 
welfare. In the absence of special legislation on the 
subject, the law has vested the power in the Trustee to 
regulate the system of distribution and classification; 
and when this power is reasonably exercised, without 
being abused or perverted by colorable pretenses, the 
decision of the teacher and the Trustee will be con¬ 
sidered conclusive. {See 23 Pick., 224; 5 Cush., 198; 
8 Cush., 160.) Parents have no remedy against the 
teacher. The only person who has a statutory right, 
as a general thing, to give orders to the teacher, is his 
employer: namely (in Kentucky), the Trustee. If his 
conduct is approved by the Trustee, the patrons have 
no remedy as against the teacher or the Trustee, pro¬ 
vided the latter can show he acted in accordance with 
his best convictions of the good of the school; for the 
law will not presume that the Trustee, who is clothed 
with the power of management, will act from a spirit of 
injustice in a case submitted to his judgment. If the 
Trustee should even err in good faith in the discharge of 
his duty, he is not liable to action therefor. (32 Ver., 
224.) The teacher should confer with the Trustee be¬ 
fore he expels a pupil (23 Pick., 227); and if he obtains 



I9O .THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

his consent, the patron has no remedy, and the teacher 
has nothing to apprehend. The teacher has the right to 
direct how and when each pupil shall attend to his pre¬ 
scribed duties, and the conduct of his scholars, provided 
that nothing contrary to the regulations and nothing 
unreasonable be required of them. (27 Maine , 281.) 
The importance of system and programme order in the 
schools, not only to furnish the best conditions for the 
pupil to learn, but to teach and confirm those habits of 
precision so necessary in the establishment of good char¬ 
acter, must be apparent to all. This general rule will 
be found applicable to a multitude of cases. When the 
parent or guardian refuses to permit his child or ward to 
comply with the directions of the school authorities, such 
disorderly pupil may be suspended from school. 

An interesting case has recently been decided by the 
Supreme Court of Ohio, bearing upon school require¬ 
ments. In November, 1871, Lemuel T. Clark, Super¬ 
intendent of the Public Schools of Defiance, suspended 
the son of J. J. Sewell, for persistent failure to have at 
the proper time his rhetorical exercises. The father 
brought suit against Mr. Clark and the Board of Edu¬ 
cation for damages to the amount of $1,000. Judge 
A. A. Latty, of the Common Pleas Court, dismissed 
the case on the ground of “no cause” for action. Mr. 
Sewell appealed to the District Court, which passed the 
case to the Supreme Court without decision. The Su¬ 
preme Court, under section 54 of the act of May 1st, 
1873, which was also in force at the time of the suspen¬ 
sion, affirmed Judge Latty’s decision and allowed the 
defendant costs of prosecution. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


I 9 I 


The State Board of Education has decided that com¬ 
position and elocution may be required. They are ger¬ 
mane to grammar and reading. 

3. The State Board requires that but one text-book 
on the same subject to pupils of the same grade shall be 
used in a Common School. 

It is the duty of the Trustee and teachers to see 
that but one book on a subject to pupils of the same 
grade of attainments Is used in the school. A multiplic¬ 
ity of text-books necessitates a corresponding number 
of classes.. This precludes the possibility of properly 
grading the pupils, and is a ruinous waste upon the 
teacher’s time. Suppose there are three different Second 
Readers used. Then there must be three classes. Sup¬ 
pose the teacher give ten minutes to each. This con¬ 
sumes thirty minutes. How much better for him to 
have one class—books all alike—and bestow the thirty 
minutes on all the children instead of the ten minutes? 
By having the books all alike, each pupil gains twenty 
minutes of instruction. The man is something worse 
than blind who will not see the advantage ensuing upon 
the use of uniform text-books. A man must be very 
poor who cannot pay twenty cents for a reader for the 
sake of securing for his child sixty-six and two thirds per 
cent, of the time the teacher has to devote to this branch. 
With three classes, each child—supposing ten minutes 
to be given to a class—would enjoy, in a term of no 
days, 1hours of instruction. With one class—sup¬ 
posing thirty minutes given to a lesson—each child 
would enjoy 55 hours. Now, is twenty cents cost to 
be put against the increased advantages of 36^ more 
hours over 1 8% hours? And suppose ten children in 
the Second Reader are willing to get one text, and two 


192 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


have another, and one another, necessitating three reci¬ 
tations, must the ten be cut out of the advantage of 
having one class and thirty minutes of attention, instead 
of ten minutes, for the sake of the three unwilling to go 
to the expense of twenty cents each? The State, the 
principal factor in the Common School System, is inter¬ 
ested in the best results possible from every teacher em¬ 
ployed in its service. To do this, he must be able to 
grade his school, and this is impossible where there is a 
multiplicity of text-books. 

4. The law puts the teacher in loco parentis , and it, 
therefore, in the exercise of his prerogative to punish, 
“becomes him to be careful in the exercise of his au¬ 
thority,” and not make his power a pretext for cruelty 
and oppression. (14 Johns. R., 119.) 

Whenever he undertakes to exercise it, the cause 
must be sufficient; the instrument fit; the manner and 
extent of the correction; the part of the body to which it 
is applied; the temper in which it is inflicted—all should 
be distinguished with kindness, prudence, and propriety, 
which befits the position. ( Cooper vs. Mcjunkin , 4 Ind . 
R., 290.) The power granted by law to the parent over 
the person of his child may, for the purpose of educa¬ 
tion, be delegated to a teacher. (2 Kent's Com., 205.) 
Under the common law, the parent may correct his 
child, being underage, in a reasonable manner. ( Black - 
stone , 452; 2 Kent's Com., 203.) 

A school-master may, in proper cases, inflict moderate 
and reasonable chastisement. (The State vs. Pendergast, 
2 Dev. & Battle, 365.) Says Chief Justice Holt: “A 
master may justify the beating of a scholar, if the beat¬ 
ing be in the nature of correction only, and with a proper 
instrument.” 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


193 


If there is any reasonable doubt whether the punish¬ 
ment was excessive, the teacher should have the ben¬ 
efit of the doubt. {Lander vs. Seaver , 32 Vt. R., 123; 
Whartons American Crim. Laiv, 1259; and 1 Sanders 
on PL and Ev., 144.) 

Whether under all the facts the punishment is exces¬ 
sive, must be left to the jury to decide. {Commonwealth 
■ of Mass. vs. Randall , 4 Gray , 38.) 

To decide the question as to whether the instrument 
employed was a proper one, belongs to the jury. It is 
sufficient to rebut the charge of malice, and that no 
unusual instrument was employed, to show that the one 
used was in common use in other schools in the neigh 
borhood. {Lander vs. Seaver, 32 Vt. R., 125.) The 
Supreme Court of Massachusetts has decided that the 
fenile is a proper instrument of punishment. {Common¬ 
wealth vs. Randall , 4 Gray, 37.) 

Teachers should never resort to such modes of pun¬ 
ishment as tend to degrade the pupils, such as “slapping 
their jaws," pulling their noses or ears, tying up by the 
thumbs, fool’s cap, etc. 

Lawyers or others having occasion to further investi¬ 
gate this subject are referred to 3 Greenleaf on Ev., sec . 
63 ; Precedents of Pleas , 2 R. P. C. P. , 47-51; Rastall's 
Ent., 613, pi. 18; 2 Clint. PI. , 553; 9 Wendell , 353; 
Peterdorff Index , 296 ; Stevens vs. Fassett, 27 Maine , 280; 
3 Barmvell & Alderson's R., 584; Reeves' Domestic Rel., 
374, 375 ; Sarah E. Smith and the District Tozvnship of 
Albion, Iowa, School Law Decisions, 1872, pages 22-24. 

5. By our statute the teacher has “power and author¬ 
ity to hold every pupil to a strict accountability for any 
disorderly conduct on the way to or from school,” but 
17 


194 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

it must not be inferred by this that the teacher is to be 
held responsible for such misconduct, or must punish it. 

6. As the teacher or Trustee has the right to exclude 
from school children afflicted with any infectious disease, 
so they have a right to protect the morals of their pu¬ 
pils from the worse contagion of a bad example or evil 
association. In Massachusetts a teacher expelled a pu¬ 
pil for immorality at home , though her conduct was unex¬ 
ceptionable in school, and was sustained. ( Sherman vs. 
Inhabitants of Charleston , 8 Cush. R. , 164.) This entire 
subject is exhaustively treated in “The Lawyer in the 
School Room,” published by J. W. Schermerhorn & Co.,. 
New York. 

7. The teacher is to bestow equal, impartial, and 
uniform care to all pupils put under his charge; to be 
undeviating in adherence to a firm, uniform, and gentle 
system of discipline; and to pay particular regard to the 
morals, habits, and general conduct, as well as mental 
improvement, of his scholars. The religious predilections 
of pupils should be scrupulously respected; sectarian 
instruction does not pertain to the office of the teacher, 
but of the parent or guardian and the spiritual teacher 
elected by him. 

8 . Irregularity of attendance, and insubordination upon, 
the part of pupils, are two of the greatest impediments 
to the progress and prosperity of the public schools; and 
parents are culpable for not maintaining family discipline, 
and aiding the teacher to maintain the government of 
his school. The teacher has the right to require punct¬ 
ual attendance at school, and a written excuse for ab¬ 
sence; and the Trustee should support the teacher in all 
rational demands in this respect. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


195 


9. Suspension may be for a definite time or for the 
term. The teacher* having suspended a pupil with the 
approval of the Trustee, and desiring to remove the pen¬ 
alty, must obtain the consent of^the Trustee. 

§ 6. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall appoint two 
professional educators, who, together with himself, shall constitute a 
State Board of Examiners, who shall examine all the teachers apply¬ 
ing for State certificates. The said Board of Examiners shall hold 
their sessions at the State Capitol on the first Wednesday of July, and 
such days succeeding as may be necessary to examine those who may 
apply for certificates, and at such other times and places as they may 
appoint, giving notice thereof to each Commissioner of a county, for 
the examination of teachers for the Common Schools. The Superin¬ 
tendent, and at least one member of the Board, shall be present and 
conduct all such examinations, p.nd shall sign all certificates of quali¬ 
fication given, and affix the Superintendent’s official seal thereto. 

§ 7. The Board shall charge each applicant a fee of three dollars, 
the proceeds of which shall be divided between the two members of 
the Board appointed by and acting with the Superintendent, in pro¬ 
portion to the services rendered by them. They shall give no certifi¬ 
cate to any teacher unless they are satisfied that such teacher is 
possessed of a good moral character, knowledge of the branches of 
study required in the Common School course, together with physi¬ 
ology and hygiene, and a fair ability to teach and govern a school, 
sufficient to warrant the giving of a certificate of the first-class; and 
this certificate shall entitle a teacher to teach in any of the Common 
Schools, first grade, of the Commonwealth, for five years, without 
examination by the County Board. 

Remarks. 

1. The applicant must furnish the Board, prior to ex¬ 
amination, satisfactory evidence of good moral character. 
In respect to moral character, the only object is to be 
sure that the applicant is, in this respect, worthy. No 
set form of evidence is required, so that the fact of good 
character clearly appears. If an applicant is personally 
known to the State Superintendent, or to any member 
of the Board of Examiners, as of good character, this 


I96 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

is sufficient—no other testimonial is necessary. If not, 
written testimonials from one or more responsible per¬ 
sons acquainted with the applicant, will be required. 

The following certificate will suffice: 

“Knowing-—-to be a person of good moral character, 

we recommend him to the State Board of Examiners for examination 
for a State certificate to teach in the Common Schools. 

“-, Commissioner . 

“-, Examiner 

This certificate, signed by the Commissioner and one 
Examiner, will be deemed sufficient. 

The State Board will examine no one who for any 
cause has been rejected by a County Board. The Board 
conducts its examinations by printed papers, and written 
answers and solutions. It has established the maximum 
standard at one hundred and seventy-five as necessary to 
secure a certificate. It has adopted the following regu¬ 
lations : 

1. Each applicant must register his or her name, post- 
office address, produce satisfactory testimonials of good 
character, and pay to the Principal Clerk in the Superin¬ 
tendent’s Office the fee of three dollars, and obtain from 
him a certificate to that effect. 

2. All communication between teachers is prohibited. 

3. Teachers giving or receiving aid will forfeit their 
right to a certificate. 

4. A teacher having commenced any one branch will 
be expected to complete it before leaving the room. 

5. Number the answers according to the questions, 
and write the name of the subject at the head of each 
page. 

6. In grammar, the analysis of the sentence, and the 
parsing of the words, should be very full and complete. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


197 


7. Specific and full answers are required in geography. 

8. The full process of solution in arithmetic is re¬ 
quired. 

9. The candidate to pass a very thorough examination 
in Orthography, Reading, English Grammar, Composi¬ 
tion, Geography, History of the United States, Penman¬ 
ship, Physiology and Hygiene, and the Theory and Prac¬ 
tice of Teaching. 

10. The branches will be arranged in groups, and a 
definite number fixed upon, on the scale of 100, as the 
average to be required in each group; also a number for 
a minimum in each branch. If a candidate fails of 
reaching the average required in any group, or the mini¬ 
mum in any branch, the certificate will not be issued; 
but when a candidate receives credits in any branch 
equal to or greater than the average required for the 
group in which it occurs, he may be recorded as having 
passed in said branch, and may be re-examined in the 
remaining branches, at a subsequent regular examina¬ 
tion; and at such re-examination, as far as pertains to 
such remaining branches, will be subject to the same 
rules as the other candidates then present. 

As it is impossible to prepare question papers for the 
different examinations of precisely the same value, the 
Examiners will not be held to an invariable standard, 
but may themselves determine the standard for each ex¬ 
amination, aiming to have it as nearly uniform in the 
different examinations as is possible. 

There will probably be but little variation from the 
following scheme: 

Group 1.—Average required, 85; minimum, 60; 1. 
Orthography; 2. Reading; 3. Mental Arithmetic; 4. 
Practical Arithmetic. 


J 98 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Group 2.—Average required, 75; minimum, 50; I. 
Grammar; 2. Geography; 3. History; 4. Penmanship. 

Group 3.—Average required, 60; minimum, 40; 1. 
Composition; 2. Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene; 
3. Theory and Practice; 4. Kentucky School Laws. 

If the sum of the credits in group 1 be divided by 4, 
and the result found not less than 85, and if no branch 
is marked below 60, the candidate passes as far as that 
group of studies is concerned; but if such result is less 
than 85, or if the credits to any one of these six branches 
be less than 60, the certificate cannot be issued on that 
examination. If, however, the candidate desires to make 
further trial at the next regular examination, the branches 
that were marked as high as 85 will be considered as 
passed, and the remaining ones only of the group will 
be required. In the same manner the credits in the 
other groups would be estimated. 

11. A State certificate entitles the holder to teach in 
any county and school district of the State, without 
further examination, and is valid for five years. It is, 
therefore, not only the highest known to our system 
of public education, and an honor to those receiving it, 
but it has also an important business value to all profes¬ 
sional teachers. It is the object of the law under which 
these examinations are held specially to recognize and 
honor those experienced and successful teachers who 
have given character and dignity to the profession in 
this State, and to furnish to young teachers a proper 
incentive to honorable exertion. 

\ 8. The Board of Examiners of a county may select, from the list 
of text-books prescribed by the State Board of Education, a uniform 
series of school books, which shall not be changed f r the term of 
two years. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


I99 


Remarks. 

1. At a meeting of the State Board of Education 
held January 6th, 1874, it was decided that the proper 
construction to be placed upon section 8, article 8, chap¬ 
ter 18, Common Schools, is as follows: “It is optional 
with the Board of Examiners of a county whether or 
not they select a uniform series of text-books to be 
used in the county. When said Board elects to pre¬ 
scribe a uniform series, they must select one text-book 
on each subject (to pupils of the same grade) from those 
recommended by the State Board of Education. When 
the County Board of Examiners do select a series of 
text-books for uniform use in a county, the Trustee 
of each district must see that the teacher employs the 
books prescribed.” 

2. The Superintendent opposed this section when it 
was proposed as an amendment by a Senator, on the 
ground that the State should not assume any power 
which may be safely relegated to the people in their 
local capacity; and that such uniformity robs the pro¬ 
fession of the opportunity to select its own methods of 
instruction. My views on this subject are elaborately 
set forth in my Annual Report for the school year end¬ 
ing June 30th, 1874, pages 44-51, inclusive. I have 
always believed that the law should leave the Trustee 
and teacher of each district free to select the books to 
be employed. Only one rule should be absolute, namely, 
but one text-book on the same subject to pupils of the same 
grade be allowed. Economy of time can only be secured 
by thorough grading, and no teacher can properly grade 
his school with a multiplicity of classes which might be 
reduced to a minimum, if the pupils are required to 
obtain the same text-book. It is a false basis of econ- 


200 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


omy to calculate cost by the price of a text-book. Re¬ 
munerative results in the practical work of education 
furnish the only reliable data for estimating the econ¬ 
omies of the school-room and the teacher’s work. 

Supplementary Decisions and Principles Pertaining to Teach¬ 
ers AND THEIR RELATIONS TO TRUSTEES AND PUPILS. 

I. Reinstatement of Teachers zvhose Certificates have 
been Revoked .—The law does not prescribe the limits of 
time within which a teacher, whose certificate has been 
revoked, may be reinstated in his profession. Each case 
must, therefore, be determined by the County Commis¬ 
sioner, according to his best judgment and discretion, 
from the facts and circumstances as he knows or believes 
them to exist. A teacher’s license may be revoked for 
offenses of so grave a character as to render it improper 
ever to restore him to the school-room. On the other 
hand, the revocation may be necessitated by malfeasances 
or delinquencies of a less serious nature, against the re¬ 
currence of which the County Commissioner may be 
well assured. If, for instance, a teacher is deprived of 
his certificate for acts of intemperance, or even drunken¬ 
ness, he may so conduct himself thereafter as soon to 
convince the Commissioner that a thorough and genu¬ 
ine reformation has taken place. If so, the fact that but 
a short time, a few weeks or months, had elapsed since 
the revocation of his certificate, would not render it im¬ 
proper or illegal to grant him another certificate. The 
power to revoke certificates is conferred for the sole pur¬ 
pose of summarily ejecting from the school-rooms of the 
State such persons as may become clearly unfit for the 
responsible trusts committed to teachers of youth, and 
should never be exercised in any other spirit. As soon. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


201 


therefore, as the cause is removed, and the dishonored 
teacher gives proof of having again become worthy of 
trust, the spirit of the law as well as of charity would 
warrant his readmission into the profession. (Adopted 
from Hon. Newton Bateman’s Report.) 

2. Teachers should be careful in all cases to make 
written contracts with Trustees before beginning their 
schools. Common business prudence should prompt 
them to do this. Neglect of this has led to much 
misunderstanding, and often resulted in the loss of a 
part, or even the whole, of the wages due. It is better 
for both parties that such contracts should be made, of 
which each party should retain a copy. All the points 
about which differences could possibly arise, such as 
the amount of salary, length of time, etc., should be 
plainly set forth in such agreements. Let it be under¬ 
stood that a moral obligation to pay a teacher cannot be 
enforced by law; {Bull vs. Harris , 31 ///., 489.) The 
language of the contract must express the exact inten¬ 
tion of the parties; for while the rule of the law is to 
give effect to the intention, yet if the language is un¬ 
equivocal it will govern, although it fail to express the 
real intention of the parties. ( Benjamin vs. McConnell , 
4 Giltn., 536; Smith vs. Brown , 5 Gilm ., 509.) 

3. Where several persons sign a subscription paper, 
payable to a teacher (when payable to a Trustee, who has 
contracted with a teacher on this basis, the teacher looks 
solely to the Trustee), whereby each one agrees to pay 
the sum set opposite to his name, as tuition for the in¬ 
struction of his children, and the school is taught by the 
teacher, according to the terms of the agreement, an 
action may be maintained by the teacher against any 
subscriber who neglects or refuses to pay his subscrip- 


202 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


tion. This applies not only to what are known as 
“subscription schools,” but also to subscribers where a 
teacher is authorized by the Trustee to receive, as addi¬ 
tional compensation, such tuition fees from non-resident 
pupils attending the school as may be agreed upon be¬ 
tween the teacher and the parents of such non-resident 
pupils. Such arrangements are not recontmeitded , in 
connection with the Common Schools; but if made, 
payment may be enforced by the teacher against each 
subscriber. The Trustee, however, has no responsibility 
in such cases: the transaction is wholly between the 
teacher and his subscribers. If the latter do not pay, 
the teacher must look to them and not to the Trustee. 
{.Robertson vs. March , 3 Scam. y 198, III. R.) 

4. A Commissioner revoked a teacher’s certificate for 
alleged immorality, and when the appeal was before the 
State Board offered direct and express proof of the speci¬ 
fication and charges upon which he based penal action. 
The teacher offered general proofs of good character, 
but made no effort to disprove the specific accusations. 
Held, that no number of general affidavits of good char¬ 
acter are adequate to the disproof of specific charges. 
The Commissioner was sustained. 

5. The omission to make an examination of the quali¬ 
fications of a teacher by a Commissioner, before granting 
a certificate, is a dereliction of duty and a violation of 
the oath of office, and would be sufficient ground for a 
county judge to remove from office, but does not render 
such certificate null and void; and such certificate shall 
be available to the teacher, provided he is guilty of no 
fraud or has resorted to no improper means in securing it. 

6. Residence .—As a general rule, the residence of par¬ 
ents is the residence of their children. Boarding children 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


203 


in a district does not, of itself, entitle them to the bene¬ 
fits of the free school in said district. The mere tempo¬ 
rary residence of a family in a district, solely to enjoy 
the benefits of the free schools, and with the intention 
of removal as soon as that purpose is accomplished, does 
not entitle the children to the privileges of said schools. 
The removal of a portion of a family from the legal 
domicile to another district, in order to send to the 
free schools thereof, does not confer the right to do so. 
As a general rule, the residence of their parents is the 
residence of employes; hence the privilege of the free 
school in another district is not acquired by placing chil¬ 
dren temporarily at service in that district. This in¬ 
cludes those who are placed in families to attend school 
and do work for their board, etc. The most liberal pol¬ 
icy is, however, recommended toward this class of chil¬ 
dren. The State has as much interest in their education 
as in that of the more favored; and although not legally 
eligible to attend free, the Trustee should permit them 
to do so, when not inconsistent with the rights of others 
and the welfare of the school. Children who have been 
apprenticed, or adopted into a new family; or who have 
been placed permanently in the care of others, with no 
intention of withdrawal; or those over whom parents 
have relinquished all control from whatever cause; or 
those who have no parents or guardians, or whose par¬ 
ents or guardians live in another State or country, and 
exercise no control over their children; or those who 
have no permanent abode, but go from place to place in 
search of employment, and whose only home is where 
they find work; the children included in all the above 
classes are to be enumerated in the district where they 
live, and are entitled to all the rights and benefits of the 


204 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

free schools in said district. The Trustee is authorized 
to decide all questions of residence in their respective 
districts. (8 Wend., 140; 23 Pick., 178; Story s Conflict 
of Laws, ch. 3.) 

7. For losses caused by illegal acts, or through failure 
to perform duties enjoined by law, Trustees are person¬ 
ally liable; because, in such cases, their relation to the 
district is changed; it ceases to be of a legally repre¬ 
sentative character, and hence, their acts not having the 
sanction of the law, they and their property, and not 
the district and its property, must be held answerable 
for the consequences. The district is held responsible 
for contracts made or debts incurred under the law, and 
for no others. 

8. Teachers are liable to dismissal by the Trustee. 
Any teacher feeling aggrieved by the action of the Trus¬ 
tee, in such case, may sue him on his contract, and thus 
compel him to show cause for the dismissal, and to sus¬ 
tain the alleged grounds of his action by adequate proof. 

9. The measles were in a district. The Trustee 
ordered the school closed. The teacher wished to know 
whether he loses the time. The law requires twenty- 
two days of actual teaching. The legal holidays and the 
time of attendance upon the Institute can be deducted, 
provided the school' was in session when the Institute 
was held. The teacher should go to the school-house, 
and if nobody attends it is not his fault. The Trustee 
has no right to require the teacher to close his school, 
and then make up the time after the epidemic has 
passed. The Trustee transcends his power, unless the 
teacher agrees to it, when he requires the school closed 
for any cause. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


205 


10. Should no school be taught in a district, the Trus¬ 
tee thereof can agree with the Trustee of an adjacent 
district under article 6, section 5, chapter 18, General 
Statutes, for pupils to attend the school thereof, and 
upon a statement of the facts can draw for the money 
apportioned for that number of pupils in actual attend¬ 
ance, and pay the same over to the teacher of the dis^ 
trict in which said pupils are taught. 

11. If a teacher goes to the school-house and remains 
an hour and no pupils come, he may then leave and the 
day can be counted, provided the Trustee approves. If 
only one scholar is in attendance, the teacher should 
teach the regular hours, giving every possible attention 
to the improvement of his single pupil. Where there 
are but few scholars, the teacher should improve the 
opportunity to make them the recipients of increased 
attention. In a public school the number of pupils has 
nothing to do with the time to be expended each day in 
the school-room. 

12. The money paid a teacher raised by district taxa¬ 
tion is exempt, like that apportioned by the State, from 
attachment for debt. Money paid for teaching higher 
branches than those prescribed in the Common School 
curriculum is subject to attachment. A teacher’s watch, 
books, etc., by a decision of the Attorney General, are 
not exempt from attachment. 

13. A teacher of a Common School cannot be gar¬ 
nisheed for any portion of the salary paid him for teach¬ 
ing said school, no matter whether raised by local taxa¬ 
tion or subscription. The amount agreed on between the 
Trustee and teacher is exempt from attachment. That 
portion of his salary which is paid for teaching branches 


20 6 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


not included in the Common School course is subject to 
attachment. 

The Attorney General has decided that the wages of 
a teacher of a Common School derived from tuition, for 
teaching branches higher than the course prescribed by 
the statute, are not exempt from attachment for debt. 
His books, watch, etc., are liable to attachment 

14. There was a contract between the teacher and 
Trustee containing a stipulation that she should leave 
if the school was not satisfactory. On account of her 
personal unpopularity with the patrons the Trustee de¬ 
sired her removal. It was decided that this was not 
sufficient ground. The school must be unsatisfactory. 

15. Every contract made with teachers in our Com¬ 
mon Schools proceeds upon the idea of possessing a 
certificate. If a Trustee employs a teacher without a 
certificate, the Trustee is bound by his contract. The 
State prescribes a certain qualification for its service, and 
demands a certificate from a qualified Board. A teacher 
employed without a certificate may look to the Trustee 
for his pay. The State is under no obligation unless he 
possesses a certificate. 

16. The Commissioner of a county cannot be held 
responsible for an illegal election held under the auspices 
of a Trustee. 

The dissatisfaction of scholars and parents is no cause 
for the dismissal of a teacher. (Paul vs. Sch-ool District 
in Hartland , 28 Vt ., 575.) 

17. A Trustee has no right to contract with a teacher 
for a less sum than that apportioned to a district, the 
remainder to be appropriated to other purposes; but a 
teacher, if he so elects, can donate any part of his pay 
to the building or repairing of a school-house. How- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 20J 

ever, a contract to this effect could not be legally en¬ 
forced. 

18. If a teacher contracts to teach the statutory term 
and fails to complete his obligation, through a voluntary 
forfeiture of the school, he is not legally entitled to any 
pay. Should he be removed by the Trustee, he is enti¬ 
tled to pay for the number of days he taught previous 
to being legally removed. 

19. A teacher removed for any cause can claim pay 
for the time taught up to removal. The teacher who 
succeeds can finish the legal term and be paid a propor¬ 
tionate amount of the School Fund allotted to the dis¬ 
trict. 

20. Teacher’s wages are to be paid him, and not the 
parent or guardian, though a minor. 

21. A Trustee is liable individually for the amount of 
School Funds paid to a teacher who has no certificate. 

See also section 6, article 11. 

Article IX.— Teachers ’ Institute. 

§ 1 . It shall be the duty of the School Commissioner of each coun¬ 
ty, with the advice, direction, and co-operation of the Superintend¬ 
ent of Public Instruction, as far as the same may be necessary, to 
organize and cause to be held, for the normal instruction, improve¬ 
ment, and better qualification of the teachers of the Common Schools 
of his county, a Teachers’ Institute annually, at such season of the 
year as may seem to him most convenient to the teachers, and pro¬ 
ductive of the best results to the schools of the county, at some point 
accessible and convenient for the attendance of the same. 

Remarks. 

1. A School Commissioner who neglects this duty 
has but feeble respect for his oath of office, and a very 
inferior view of the utility of a well-conducted Institute. 


208 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

2. In a chapter in the Appendix headed “Teachers* 
Institute,” I have given the subject of this article full 
treatment. 

§ 2. Every teacher of a Common School, and every one who has 
obtained a certificate of qualification to teach a Common School, 
shall attend the session of such Institute, and shall continue from 
year to year to do so as long as the Institute shall be kept up, upon 
a penalty for non-attendance, if satisfactory excuse has not been ren¬ 
dered the Commissioner, of forfeiting his certificate. The session 
shall not be longer than one week of six days, during which there 
shall be vacation of the Common Schools of the county to give 
opportunity to the teachers to attend; and no reduction of the 
teacher’s wages shall be made during said week of vacation, pro¬ 
vided he was in attendance the full time of the session of the Insti¬ 
tute. 

Remarks. 

1. The duty to attend the Institute is of such an im¬ 
portant character that the law makes attendance com¬ 
pulsory, and affixes to willful absence a very severe 
penalty. 

2. A teacher’s certificate is forfeited if he fails to at¬ 
tend, whether or not the Commissioner has so declared. 
Willful absence works forfeiture by the operation of 
law. Therefore, should a teacher fail to attend an Insti¬ 
tute, and to give a satisfactory excuse to the Commis¬ 
sioner, and should teach a school, he would not be 
legally entitled to any pay. 

3. A teacher reporting at the Institute, and getting 
excused to attend to private business, loses the time. 
He must be in the State’s service to draw public funds; 
therefore, he cannot count time in which he is engaged 
in private business. 

3. Should a teacher forfeit his certificate for non-at¬ 
tendance, and immediately apply to the Commissioner 
for another, it should not be granted, if his absence, by 


COMMON SCHOOL JLAWS. 


209 


which the forfeiture was worked, was in consequence of 
•a contempt of the law. This would constitute a moral 
offense, and would be grounds for the Commissioner 
refusing to renew. 

4. Should a teacher apply, after forfeiture, for a cer¬ 
tificate, the Commissioner can exact the Examiner’s fee. 

5. The Commissioner can grant a teacher the privi¬ 
lege of attending an Institute in another county; and 
should the teacher present the certificate of the Com¬ 
missioner of the county, whose Institute he attended, 
that he was present and participated, he may deem this 
an adequate compliance with the law. It is not per se , 
however, a strict compliance with the law, for the ma¬ 
triculation fees constitute the financial basis upon which 
the Commissioner must estimate the resources at his 
command with which to pay the expenses of his Insti¬ 
tute; and if any considerable number should absent 
themselves, and attend the Institutes of other counties, 
it might embarrass the Commissioner. It is, therefore, 
necessary to obtain the consent of the Commissioner; 
but the Commissioner may, if he so elects, regard at¬ 
tendance in another county as a satisfactory excuse for 
absence from his own. 

6. The time the teacher is in attendance can only be 
counted when the school is in session. If the Institute 
occurs in vacation, it cannot be counted. Should it em¬ 
brace a holiday, two days could be counted. Should 
the Institute begin on Monday and conclude on Thurs¬ 
day night, the teacher may adjourn his school for one 
week and count five days. 

7. Should an Institute continue in session longer than 
six days, the days after the expiration of the legal term 

18 


210 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


could not be credited to the teacher. Should the Insti¬ 
tute include Saturday, it may be counted as a school 
day. 

8 . Sickness of self or family, and impassable waters, 
should be regarded as satisfactory excuses. The Com¬ 
missioner should be conscientious and careful in the 
hearing and granting of excuses. 

\ 3 . The School Commissioner of the county shall be present dur¬ 
ing the entire session of the Institute, and shall keep a register of all 
teachers or others in attendance as pupils, of the daily exercises and 
proceedings, and of the progress and results of the same. An hour 
each morning, before the exercises of the Institute begin, shall be set 
apart for the examination of teachers who may wish to apply for cer¬ 
tificates of qualification to teach the Common Schools by the County 
Board of Examiners; and those teachers having such certificates shall 
have precedence, in all cases where it is admissible, in selecting a 
teacher for a Common School. The Commissioner may collect from 
each teacher, or other person in attendance on the Institute at the 
time of matriculation as pupil of same, two dollars. These fees shall 
form a County Institute Fund. Out of this fund the Commissioner 
shall pay, first, the County Board of Examiners; and after paying all 
necessary expenditures in support of the Institute taught and the 
Association held, he shall divide the balance of said fund, if any, 
equally among those districts in his county which have established 
library funds, to be appropriated solely for the benefit of the libraries 
of same. 

Remarks. 

I. The record of the Institute may be kept in the 
miscellaneous department of the Commissioner’s book. 
The Commissioner should write opposite the name of 
every unexcused absent teacher, “certificate forfeited;’* 
so that a Trustee desiring to examine the record may 
know what teachers have preserved the integrity of their 
certificate. A Trustee should not knowingly contract 
with a teacher whose certificate is forfeited by non-at¬ 
tendance upon the Institute; but should a teacher con- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


2 11 


tract, the Trustee would not be bound, and the delinquent 
teacher would lose his right to exact pay. The Com¬ 
missioner should demand the surrender to him of the 
forfeited certificates, and should any fail to return their 
parchments to him, he should publish their names in the 
county papers, so that the Trustees may not be deceived 
by the annulled certificates. 

2. It is not mandatory that the Commissioner shall 
exact the matriculation fee. He may or may not. If 
he should, it is debt from each teacher; and should any 
fail to pay it at the time, the Commissioner may sub¬ 
tract it from the pay of that teacher when he receives 
the public funds. If the Commissioner chooses, he may 
demand the fee of the male teachers, and exempt the 
female. He may also collect any sum he may deem 
necessary, not exceeding two dollars. It would be well, 
however, in every instance, to collect the full fee, and 
apply it to the employment of experts to teach, or the 
purchase of such aids to instruction as would make the 
sessions more entertaining and profitable—such as globes, 
maps, charts, reading cases, blackboards, stereopticons, 
mathematical blocks, numeral frames, etc. 

3. Should the Commissioner conduct the exercises, 
he would not be entitled to any pay. He may, how¬ 
ever, contract with either or both of Examiners, or any 
teacher of the county, and pay them out of the Insti¬ 
tute fund. 

\ 4. In selecting a proper place for holding the Teachers’ Institute, 
the Commissioner shall decide with reference to the convenience and 
accommodations of the place, and shall endeavor to make such arrange¬ 
ments as he best can for the free accommodation, or for economizing 
and reducing the expenses of teachers while in attendance. He shall, 
twenty days before the Institute begins, notify by mail the Trustees 
of his county of the time and place of holding it; and it shall be the 


212 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


duty of said Trustees to notify each teacher in their respective school 
district. The Commissioner shall likewise cause the Trustee of each 
district to post notices thereof. 

Remarks. 

1. It would be well to itinerate the Institute from 
place to place in the county, thus giving various locali¬ 
ties the benefit of its instruction and lectures, and also 
lighten the burden of entertainment. 

2. When the citizens will not tender gratuitous enter¬ 
tainment, the Commissioner should secure the most re¬ 
duced rates of board; and should it not be necessary to 
use the Institute fund for the payment of conductors, it 
may be applied to the lessening of the expenses of the 
teachers who may have to board. 

3. The Superintendent, upon application, will print 
circular notices and posters of the time and place for 
holding the Institutes, and furnish them to the Commis¬ 
sioners free of cost; also programmes of the exercises. 
At least three notices of the Institute should be posted 
at prominent places in each school district, and it should 
be well advertised in the county papers. The public 
should always be cordially invited, and the Institute held 
at such place as that all who may desire to attend can 
be comfortably accommodated. 

§ 5. During the session of the Institute there maybe held a County 
Teachers’ Association, and an evening or night term of two hours 
may be daily set apart for this purpose. The Association may be 
composed of all the officers and teachers of Common Schools present, 
and shall be called together by the Commissioner, after which, the 
organization and proceedings of that body shall be under its own 
control and management. The objects of such Association shall be, 
primarily, to discuss and devise the best ways and means of promot¬ 
ing the interests of Common Schools, and the improvement of teach¬ 
ers, and the methods of teaching. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


213 


Remarks. 

1. The Institute is a State concern, and under the 
official control of the Commissioner. The Association 
is a voluntary organization, and more mobile in its char¬ 
acter and exercises. It elects its own officers, and de¬ 
termines its own methods of administration, and the 
character of the exercises. It will admit of subjects 
excluded from the Institute, and may partake more 
largely of the nature of the popular lyceum or debating 
club. 

2. Should the teachers elect to organize such an Asso¬ 
ciation, the Commissioner should so order his Institute as 
to give them the time prescribed by the statute, or so 
much of it as may be demanded. 

3. The Association may meet periodically, and at such 
places and for such purposes as it may determine. For 
the benefit of those desiring to form such an Associa¬ 
tion, I append the following form of a 

CONSTITUTION: 

“We, the teachers of -county, State of-, 

in order to promote the welfare of each other, advance 
the educational interests of the county, and elevate the 
standard of our profession, adopt this constitution for 
the Educational Association of-county: 

“Article I. 

“Sec. 1. The officers of this Association shall consist 
of a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, 
who shall hold their offices for one year. 

“Sec. 2. The president shall be elected by ballot, and 
the candidate receiving a majority of all the votes cast 
shall be declared president. 





214 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


“Sec. 3. The vice president and secretary may be 
elected by ballot in the same manner as the president, 
or by a viva voce vote, but must receive a majority of 
all the votes to constitute an election. 

“Sec. 4. The treasurer shall be elected by ballot in 
the same manner as the president. 

“Article II. 

“Sec. 1. It shall be the duty of the president to pre¬ 
side at all meetings of the Association, to appoint all 
standing committees, and to perform such other duties 
as usually pertain to a presiding officer. 

“Sec. 2. In the absence of the president, the vice 
president shall discharge the duties of that officer; and 
in the absence of both these officers, a president pro 
tempore may be chosen by the Association. 

“Sec. 3. The secretary shall keep full minutes of all 
regular or called meetings of the Association ; and after 
they have been approved, the minutes shall be accurately 
recorded in a book kept for that purpose, which shall be 
the property of the Association. The secretary may 
also correspond with other associations; and it shall be 
his duty to secure copies of their proceedings when 
printed; to procure copies of all documents, State and 
Federal, printed for public information; and books and 
pamphlets thus obtained shall become the property of 
the Association; but no person desiring to do so, though 
not a member of the Association, shall be debarred the 
privilege of examining any public document in the cus¬ 
tody of the secretary. 

“Sec. 4. The treasurer shall keep all moneys belong¬ 
ing to the Association deposited in bank subject to his 
order, and shall keep a careful account of all moneys 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


215 


received and paid out; but no money shall be paid from 
the treasury, except by approval of the finance com¬ 
mittee. 

Article III. 

“Sec. 1. The president, on his election, shall appoint 
three standing committees: 

“ I. A committee of three on programme. 

“2. A committee of one on printing. 

“3. A committee of three on finance. 

“Sec. 2. The committee on programme shall, as soon 
after appointment as practicable, announce the pro¬ 
gramme of exercises. At each meeting the committee 
shall announce the exercises of the next (see by-laws, 
section 3); and each exercise must have a designated 
time in which it shall be given. 

“Sec. 3. The committee on printing shall contract 
for the publication of all notices of the meetings of the 
Association, and of such other matter as the Associa¬ 
tion may order to be printed. 

“Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the finance commit¬ 
tee to examine the books of the treasurer, from time to 
time, and report upon the same at the end of each year, 
and at such other time as may be deemed proper. 

BY-LAWS. 

“Sec. I. The regular meetings of this Association 
shall be held on the fourth Saturday in September, Oc¬ 
tober, November, December, January, and February, 
and of such other months as the Association may di¬ 
rect. 

“Sec. 2. The regular annual meeting for the election 
of officers shall be held on Thursday night, during the 
week in which the County Institute is held; and such 


216 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


exercises may follow the election as the committee on 
programme may have reported at the next preceding 
meeting. 

“Sec. 3. At each regular meeting of the Association, 
except that for the election of officers, the following 
shall be the 


“Order of Exercises. 

“ 1. Call to order by the president, and opening ex¬ 
ercises. 

“2. Roll-call. 

“3. Minutes of last meeting read and approved. 

“4. Exercises according to programme of the com¬ 
mittee. 

“ 5. Committee report on the programme for the next 
meeting. 

“6. Reports of other committees. 

“7. Appointment of place of next meeting upon 
motion of any member. 

“8. Miscellaneous business. 

‘‘9. Adjournment. 

“Sec. 4. The following shall be the order of exer¬ 
cises for the meeting for the election of officers: 

“ I. Call to order and opening exercises. 

“2. Roll-call. 

“3. Election of officers. 

“4. Programme of the committee. 

“5. Adjournment. 

“Sec 5. No meeting of this Association shall be held 
outside the limits of-county. 

4 ‘ Sec. 6. The regular yearly fee to be paid by each 
member of the Association shall be one dollar. 



COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


21 / 


‘ ‘Sec. 7. Special committees on any subject maybe 
appointed at any time, on motion of any member, under 
the head of ‘miscellaneous business.’ 

“Sec. 8. Any teacher of-county may become 

a member of this Association by signing the constitu¬ 
tion and paying the regular fee. 

“Sec. 9. Any person may become an honorary mem¬ 
ber of this Association by vote of a majority of the 
members present, but no honorary member shall be 

entitled to a vote; nor shall any actual teacher of- 

county be admitted as an honorary member. 

“Sec. 10. Five members of the Association, of whom 
two must be officers, shall constitute a quorum for busi¬ 
ness.” 

4. Where County Associations have been tried, they 
have been found of great profit. 

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS. 

County Associations of Teachers have been formed 
in many counties, meeting monthly, and itinerating the 
sessions from one section of the county to another, and 
have been found of great profit, in connection with the 
Annual Institute, in elevating the teacher’s profession in 
public opinion, and improving those who engage in their 
exercises and objects. A programme is arranged for 
each meeting a month in advance. Such other exer¬ 
cises as these, other than those which will naturally sug¬ 
gest themselves, form a part of the proceedings: the 
collection of libraries; the reading of essays; the exhi¬ 
bition of select pupils trained in different methods; the 
interchange of opinions and communication of facts; 
visits to each other’s schools; the production or descrip¬ 
tion of apparatus, new books, &c., &c. 

19 





218 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


If discussions are allowed, it is better to make them 
but a single feature in the plan, and to guard them care¬ 
fully against abuse. This may be effected by permit¬ 
ting only one or two speeches to an individual, and 
prescribing an allotted time to each, except in cases 
where the President or Association may extend a special 
grace. It should always be remembered and guarded 
against that a few captious members, a little spice of 
irritable temper, or forgetfulness of the real objects of 
the society, may produce injurious and even disastrous 
results. Let them never degenerate into mere debating 
societies. Common School teachers are happily, how¬ 
ever, less liable to suffer from those distracting jealousies 
which sometimes are plainly apparent in persons of one 
profession. They are not and cannot be rivals of each 
other to any considerable extent, because they cannot 
encroach upon each other’s districts. This is a circum¬ 
stance favorable to Teacher’s Associations. The mutual 
acquaintanceship, frequently resulting in warm personal 
and professional attachments, and conducive to the pro¬ 
duction of a county esprit du corps , and the real enter¬ 
tainments they afford, are not unworthy of mention as 
part of their many advantages. 

$ 6. The Commissioner shall, at the time of making his annual 
report to the Superintendent, also report the time and place of hold¬ 
ing the Teachers’ Institute; the name of the person conducting the 
same; the number of persons registered as in attendance; the sum 
collected by a fee of two dollars paid by each person in attendance; 
the number of teachers of Common Schools in the county who did 
not attend the Institute (and such other information of the proceed¬ 
ings and results of the Institute) and Teachers’ Association as he 
may deem of value and interest. 

\ 7. Where it can be done with more economy, and will as well 
accommodate all teachers and persons whose duty it may be to at¬ 
tend, the Commissioners of two or three counties may, by proper 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


219 


agreement and arrangement, unite together and have conducted one 
Teachers’ Institute and Association for the counties they officially 
represent: Provided , The several counties thus united shall not con¬ 
tain a total of more than one hundred and fifty districts; and the 
same rules, regulations, and provisions shall apply in the manage¬ 
ment of such a union Institute or Association as in the case of a 
single county. The expenses and benefits of such union Institute 
and Association shall be divided between the several counties repre¬ 
sented as equitably as possible by the Commissioners of the same. 

Remarks. 

There are but few localities where the provisions of 
these sections will be found desirable. Such an Institute 
would be too large for any place to entertain gratuitously. 
Should such an union Institute be held, the Commis¬ 
sioner of each county must be present in person, and 
see whether the teachers of his county are present, and 
make record of the same as he would if he had exclu¬ 
sive control. 

ARTICLE X .—District Library. 

§ 1. When, by contribution, purchase, or otherwise, forty volumes 
can be collected for such purpose, the District Trustee may organize 
a library in connection with the school of the district, which shall be 
for the use of the district in which the same is located. He may 
make such suitable arrangements for keeping the books and periodi¬ 
cals of the said library as may be necessary, and may appoint a suit¬ 
able person to take charge of the same, and to manage it according 
to such rules and regulations as they may prescribe: Provided , That 
none of the school revenues collected by general taxation for the 
purpose of Common School education shall ever hereafter be used to 
purchase books, maps, or charts for the same. 

Remarks. 

I. In the Collins’ History case it was clearly decided 
that no portion of the School Fund could be employed 
in the purchase of books for the District Library. The 
only fund that can be used for the purpose is any sur¬ 
plus remaining in the Commissioner’s hands, after defray- 


16 


220 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


ing the expenses of an Institute (see section 3 of article 
9), and the district, where it is clearly stated in the elec¬ 
tion notices, may, under article 2, purchase maps, charts, 
globes, and the like, the Attorney General having given 
it as his opinion that such things may be regarded quite 
as desirable articles of furniture as blackboards. Books 
may, however, be donated, or exhibitions may be given, 
and the proceeds applied to the purpose. The State has 
but lately furnished most of the districts with an abridged 
copy of Collins’ Historical Sketches of Kentucky, paid 
for out of the general revenue (not the School Fund), 
which will furnish a nucleus for a library. 

2. The teacher generally will prove to be the best cus¬ 
todian of the books. The Trustee should remember 
that Collins’ History is public property, and must be 
handed over to his successor, who should receipt for it. 

§ 2. The Trustee shall have the same control over the library as 
over the other school property; and when it is practicable and safe, 
the same shall be kept in the school-house of the district; and when 
convenient, the teacher of the scho’ol shall be appointed to act as 
librarian. The Trustee shall be accountable for the proper care 
and preservation of the library, and shall have power to assess and 
collect all fines, penalties, and fees of membership; and he shall 
report annually to the Commissioner all library statistics which may 
be required of him, or which he may deem of importance. 

§ 3. The Trustee may receive donations of books, maps, charts, and 
other works of interest: Provided , No books of a sectarian or infidel 
character shall be placed in the library; and any such books found 
therein shall be removed by the order of the Trustee or Commis¬ 
sioner. The library shall be free to all pupils of suitable age belong¬ 
ing to the schools of the district; but any resident of the district 
may become entitled to its privileges upon the payment of such a sum 
of money for membership, or such as the Trustee may prescribe. 

Remarks. 

1. The school district library may be the medium of 
establishing a good circulating library for the neighbor- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


221 


hood. Suppose there are forty families in a district, and 
each can donate to the library an average of ten books, 
this would put 400 books within the reach of every 
member of those families. If a small fee of ten cents 
a week were charged for the use of a book, and each 
family averaged one a week, the annual revenue would 
amount to over two hundred dollars—a sufficient sum to 
purchase, say one hundred volumes, and pay fifty dollars 
to the librarian. 

2. If the library is established under the authority 
of this law, care should be taken to exclude all merely 
sectarian or sceptical works. Such books, however, as 
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Baxter’s Saints Everlasting 
Rest, Keble’s Christian Year, etc., ought not to be re¬ 
garded as proscribed. They are religious books, but 
not sectarian. 

§ 4. It shall be the duty of the State Board of Education to prepare 
a list of books suitable for school libraries, which may, from time to 
time, be amended, revised, and enlarged, and to prepare uniform rules 
and regulations for the government of the same, and to prescribe pen¬ 
alties, fines, and conditions of membership. 

Remarks. 

1. The State Board of Education has adopted the fol¬ 
lowing regulations for the management of district libra¬ 
ries: 

1. The district librarian shall have charge of the library, 
and keep a catalogue of all the books in the library under 
his care, in a book to be provided for that purpose. 

2. Every volume in a library shall have written or 
printed on the inside of the cover the number of the 
district, the number of the volume, the fine for not re¬ 
turning it within the specified time, and for loss of or 
injury to any book. Blanks for this purpose will be 


222 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


furnished to the districts upon application to this de¬ 
partment. 

3. Every volume loaned shall be entered by the libra¬ 
rian in a book, to be provided by the district for that 
purpose, by its number, with the day on which it was 
loaned; the name of the borrower, and the name of the 
person to whom it is charged (see Regulation 5); the 
date when returned, and condition of the book; the fine 
assessed for detention or injury done to the book, in the 
following form: 


Time of 

No. of 

To whom 

To whom 

When 

Condition 

Fine for 

Fine for 

delivery. 

book. 

delivered. 

charged. 

returned. 

of book. 

detention. 

injury. 

1878. 

June 10. . 

50 

J. W. Dodd 

V. Dodd 

July 4. . 

Good . . 




4. No person shall be allowed to have more than one 
volume at a time, or to retain the same longer than two 
weeks, nor shall any person who has incurred a fine 
imposed by these regulations receive a book while such 
fine remains unpaid. 

5. Books may be loaned to minors and charged to 
their parents, guardians, or the other person with whom 
they reside, who shall be responsible for the books under 
these regulations. 

6. On the election of a librarian, his predecessor shall, 
within ten days thereafter, deliver to him all the printed 
and manuscript books, pamphlets, papers, cases, and all 
other property belonging to the library which was in his 
custody, for which the librarian shall give him a full 
receipt, discharging him from all responsibility therefor, 
except in the case herein provided; and on receiving the 
library property, the librarian shall carefully examine all 
books, etc., and if any loss or injury shall have been 















COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


223 


sustained, for which a fine has not been imposed by his 
predecessor, or for which a fine has been imposed and 
not certified by him to the Trustee, the librarian shall 
certify the amount thereof to the Trustee, who shall col¬ 
lect the same of such predecessor in the same manner 
as other fines are collected. 

7. In case of vacancy in the office of librarian, the Dis¬ 
trict Trustee shall perform the duties of librarian, until 
the vacancy is filled. 

8. If any person, having held the office of librarian, 
shall neglect or refuse to deliver to his successor all the 
library property, as prescribed in the sixth regulation, 
the Trustee shall forthwith commence an action in the 
name of the district for the recovery of the property he 
shall so neglect or refuse to deliver. 

9. On the return of every book to the library, the 
librarian shall examine it carefully, to ascertain what 
injury, if any, has been sustained by it, and shall charge 
the amount of the fine accordingly; and in every case 
of injury not specified in these regulations, he shall as¬ 
sess the amount of damages to be paid, subject to revis¬ 
ion by the district board. 

10. The following fines are established: 

1st. For detaining a book beyond two weeks, ten 
cents per week. 

2d. For the loss of a volume, the cost of the book; 
and if one of a set, an amount sufficient to replace it, 
or to purchase a new set. 

3d. For a leaf of the text torn out and lost, or so 
soiled as to render it illegible, the cost of the book. 

4th. For any injury beyond ordinary wear, an amount 
proportionate to the injury, to be estimated by the libra¬ 
rian. 


224 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

5th. Whenever any book shall not be returned within 
six weeks from the time it was loaned, it shall be deemed 
to be lost, and the person so detaining it shall be charged 
with its cost, in addition to the weekly fine for detaining 
the book up to the time such charge is made. But if 
the book is finally returned, the charge for loss shall be 
remitted, and the fine for not returning the same be 
levied up to the time of such return: Provided , That in 
no case shall the amount of weekly fines exceed double 
the cost of the book. 

11. On the third Monday of August, November, Feb¬ 
ruary, and May, and also immediately before he vacates 
his office, the librarian shall report to the District Trustee 
the name of every person liable for fines, and the amount 
each such person is liable to pay; and the treasurer shall 
give the librarian a certificate of the same, and immedi¬ 
ately proceed to collect the same, and if not paid, shall 
so certify to the Trustee, who shall forthwith bring an 
action in the name of the district for the recovery there¬ 
of. 

12. All library fines shall be paid to the District Trus¬ 
tee, who shall keep account of the same, and shall re¬ 
port thereon to the Commissioner, giving the name of 
each individual fined, the amount of the fine, and the 
sum total of all fines, which report shall be recorded by 
the Trustee; and the District Trustee shall be responsible 
for all fines uncollected through his neglect. 

13. At the termination of each school year, the Trus¬ 
tee shall report to the Commissioner as follows: 

1st. The number of volumes in the library. 

2d. The number of volumes purchased during the 
year. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 225 

3<d. The number of volumes presented during the 
year. 

4th. The number of volumes loaned during the year 
(counting each volume once for each time it is loaned?). 

5th. Amount of fines collected. 

6th. Amount of fines expended. 

7th. Amount of fines remaining unexpended. 

14. The library fines collected must first be applied to 
the replacing of lost volumes, binding pamphlets, and 
rebinding such books as may require it. 

15. In case of joint libraries, the reports required 
above shall be made to the officers of the district in 
which the library is located. 

16. When a library is constituted by donations for the 
purpose of supplying literature to the people of a dis¬ 
trict, such a price may be charged for the use of a book 
as the Trustee may prescribe, or the donors may meet 
and adopt such supplementary rules as they may think 
necessary. Such donors and others who may have be¬ 
come members by payment of a sum prescribed by the 
Trustee may meet and elect, in each year, a librarian, 
who may hold his office for one year, or until his suc¬ 
cessor is elected or appointed and qualified. Whenever 
a vacancy shall occur from any cause, the Trustee is 
hereby empowered to fill such vacancy by appointment. 
Such donors or members of the library association are 
hereby empowered to make all by-laws, rules and regu¬ 
lations, pertaining to such library. In case said associa¬ 
tion is not organized and does not make by-laws, rules 
and regulations, as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the 
librarian and Trustee to enforce the rules of the State 
Board of Education. 


226 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


2. Some books suitable for the library, especially for 
the teacher’s use, are those specified in the rules and 
regulations of the State Board of Education, published 
under section 5 of article 3. In addition to these, the 
Board recommends the following: 

Teachers’ Hand Book— Phelps. 

Monteith’s Youth’s History. 

Hanna’s Bible History. 

Marsh’s Ecclesiastical History. 

Cleveland’s Compendiums of Literature. 

Boyd’s Karnes’ Elements of Criticism. 

Willard’s Morals for the Young. 

Hecker’s Scientific Basis of Education. 

Dwight’s Higher Christian Education. 

Boyd’s Bacon’s Essays. 

Pope’s Illiad. 

Milton’s Paradise Lost. 

Young’s Night Thoughts. 

Cowper’s Task. 

Thomson’s Seasons. 

Pollok’s Course of Time. 

The Moneyless Man and Jacob Brown, by Stanton. 

Apocalypse of the Season, M. Heady. 

Poems, by Amelia Welby. 

Poems, by George D. Prentice. 

Poems, by H. W. Longfellow. 

Excursion, by Wordsworth. 

Lady of the Lake, Sir Walter Scott. 

Boswell’s Life of Johnson. 

Mallory’s Life and Speeches of Clay. 

De Tocqueville’s American Institutions. 

Use and Abuse of Words—Mathews. 

Getting on in the World—Mathews. 

Dean Alfred’s English. 

Irving’s Columbus. 

Irving’s Mahomet. 

Irving’s Sketch Book. 

Irving’s Washington. 

Thomas’ Biographical Dictionary. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


227 


Wirt’s Patrick Henry. 

Mills’ Autobiography. 

Dickens’ Child’s History of England. 

Gibbon’s Rome. 

Grote’s Greece. 

Lossing’s Field Book of the Revolution. 

British Eloquence. 

Dickens’ Works, fifteen volumes. 

Fennimore Cooper’s Works, thirty-two volumes. 

Don Quixote. 

Du Chaillu’s Equatorial Africa. 

Goldsmith’s Works. 

Half Hours With Best French Authors. 

Livingstone’s Travels (condensed). 

Noctes Ambrosia, six volumes. 

Rassalas. 

Waverly Novels, Sir Walter Scott. 

Bulwer’s Novels. 

Kingsley’s, Charles, Novels. 

Sea and its Monsters. 

Bayard Taylor’s Library of Travel, 10 volumes. 
Shakspeare. 

Hooker’s Child’s Book of Nature. 

Our Children’s Pets. 

Gold Foil, Holland. 

Autocrat of the Breakfast Table, Holmes. 

The Professor, Holmes. 

Putnam’s Series of Popular Manuals, six volumes. 
Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith. 

Wells’ Science of Common Things. 

Sketches of Creation, Winchell. 

Mental Physiology, Carpenter. 

Tyndall’s Fragments of Science for Unscientific People. 
Johnson’s Encyclopedia, four volumes. 

The Hoosier School-master, Eggleston. 

How to Educate Yourself, Eggleston. 

Self Help, Smiles. 

Half Hours with Modern Scientists. 

Muller’s Science of Religion. 

Hitchcock’s Religion of Geology. 

Ethics of the Dust, Ruskin. 


228 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Seven Lamps of Architecture, Ruskin. 

Proctor’s Light Science for Leisure Hours. 
Hooker’s Science of Common Things. 

Guyot’s Earth and Man. 

Appleton’s Science Primers, six volumes. 

Boys’ Journey Round the World, Smiles. 

Bacon’s Works, fifteen volumes. 

Ridpath’s United States. 

Juveniles. 

Arabian Nights. 

Actions Speaks Louder than Words. 
yEsop’s Fables. 

Andersen’s (Hans C.) Stories for the Household. 
Andersen’s (Hans C.) Wonder Stories. 

Among the Squirrels. 

Arthur’s Home Stories, six volumes. 

Abbott’s Marco Polo Series. 

Abbott’s Early American Pioneers. 

Balloon Travels in Europe. 

Bonner’s Child’s History of Greece, two volumes. 
Bonner’s Child’s History of Rome, two volumes. 
Boy’s Trip Across the Plains. 

Boy’s Treasury of Sports and Pastimes. 

Both Sides of the Street. 

Boy’s Book of Trade and the Tools Used in Them. 
Bessie Books, six volumes. 

Boy’s Own Toy Maker. 

Boy Artist. 

Boy’s Play Book of Science. 

Boy’s Own Book of Natural History. 

Browne’s (Rossi Crusoe’s Island. 

Butterfly Hunters. 

Captain John. 

Captain Wolf and other Sketches of Animal Life. 
Cast Away in the Cold. 

Candy Elephant, by Clara G. Doliver. 

Changing Base. 

Children’s Album. 

Children’s Sunday Album. 

Child’s Picture Book of Domestic Animals. 
“Carleton” Following the Flag. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


229 


Conant’s Butterfly Hunters. 

D’Aulnoy’s (Countess) Fairy Tales. 

Dicken’s Little Folks, six volumes. 

Dicken’s Little Folks, twelve volumes. 

Diaz’s William Henry Stories. 

Double Play. 

Du Chaillu’s Apingi Kingdom. 

Du Chaillu’s Gorilla Country. 

Dolliver (Clara G.), No Baby in the House. 
Edgeworth’s Harry and Lucy. 

Edgeworth’s Frank. 

Franconia Stories. 

Fireside Library (Hans C. Andersen), eight volumes. 
Farming for Boys. 

Grimm’s Household Stories. 

Girl’s Own Treasury. 

Grandfather’s Nell. 

Gypsy Library, four volumes. 

Georgie’s Menagerie, six volumes. 

Girl’s Own Book. 

Girl’s Own Book, extended. 

Hughes’ Alfred the Great. 

Helping Hand Series. 

Howitt’s (Mary) Series of Popular Juveniles. 
Hawthorne’s True Stories from History. 

Hawthorne’s Wonder Book. 

Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales. 

Hawthorne’s Tanglewood Tales. 

Harry’s Summer at Ashcroft. 

Home Stories. 

Hayes’ Cast Away in the Cold. 

Hale’s In His Name. 

Hale’s His Level Best. 

Inglenook. 

Island Home. 

Ingelow’s Studies for Stories from Girls’ Lives. 
Ingelow’s Mopsy, the Fairy. 

John Gay, or Work for Boys. 

Mary Gay, or Work for Girls. 

Jonas Books. 

Jack of all Trades. 


230 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Kingsley’s Water Babies. 

Kingsley’s Madam How and Lady Why. 

Lawrence’s Adventures Among the Ice Cutters. 

Little Men. 

Little Women, two volumes. 

Little Prudy Series, six volumes. 

Lucy Books. * 

Little Learners’ Series, five volumes. 

Little Agnes Library for Girls, four volumes. 

Little Anna Stories, six volumes. 

Library of Adventures on Land and Sea, six volumes. 
Marooner’s Island Stories, three volumes. 

My Favorite Library, twelve volumes. 

Magnet Series, four volumes. 

Mulock’s French Country Family. 

Men Who Have Risen. 

My Feathered Friends. 

Mulock’s Little Sunshine. 

Mulock’s Cousin from India. 

Mace’s Mouthful of Bread. 

McDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind. 
McDonald’s Princess and Goblins. 

McDonald’s Jack Hazard Series. 

New Prize Library, Boys, six volumes. 

New Prize Library, Girls, six volumes. 

Oakland Stories, four volumes. 

Optical Wonders. 

Old Fashioned Girl. 

Old World Seen with Young Eyes. 

One Day’s Weaving. 

Off the Sea. 

Papers for Thoughtful Girls. 

Pictures and Stories of Animals. 

Paul and Virginia. 

Parley’s Cottage Library, twelve volumes. 

Parley’s Youth’s Libi'ary of Plistory. 

Parley’s Youth’s Library of Biography. 

Percy Family, five volumes. 

Parley’s Youth’s Library of Literature and Science. 
Peep of Day Series. 

Pleasant Cove Series, six volumes. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


231 


Proverb Stories, six volumes. 

Pilgrim’s Progress. 

Ragged Dick Series. 

Rollo Books, fourteen volumes. 

Robinson Crusoe, in Monosyllables. 

Robinson Crusoe. 

Rollo’s Tour in Europe, ten volumes. 

Reid’s (Mayne) Series Popular Tales, fourteen volumes. 
Richardson’s Stories from Shakspeare. 

Romance of the Mummy. 

Summer in Scotland. 

Smiles’ Self Help. 

Swiss Family Robinson and Sequel. 

Stories Told to a Child. 

Stories of the Island World. 

Sanford and Merton. 

Ships and Sailors, illustrated. 

Spectacles for Young Eyes, eight volumes. 

Stories and Sights of France and Italy. 

Snail Shell Harbor. 

Stowe’s Queer Little People. 

Scudder’s Dream Children. 

Ten Thousand Wonderful Things. 

That’s It, or Plain Teaching. 

The Seven Wonders of the World. 

The True Robinson Crusoes. 

Tom Bentley. 

Tyndall’s Easy Lessons in Natural Philosophy. 

Trowbridge’s Jack Hazard and Three Others. 

The Hoosier School-master. 

The Man With the Broken Ear. 

The Seven Little Sisters who live in the Round Ball that Floats in 
the Air. 

Undine. 

Verne’s Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. 

Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth. 

Wallace’s Malay Archipelago. 

Whitney’s Faith Gartney. 

Whitney’s Gayworthies. 

Whitney’s Leslie Goldthwaite. 

Whitney’s Patience Strong. 


232 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Whitney’s We Girls. 

Wonders of Heat. 

Wonders of Nature. 

Water Babies. 

Walter’s Tour in the East, six volumes. 

Whispering Pine Series, six volumes. 

Weeks’ Ainslee Stories. 

Weeks’ White and Red. 

Young America Abroad 

Article XI.— Common School Defined . 

§ i. The object of this chapter is to carry into effect the intention 
of the people of Kentucky, as expressed in the Constitution, in pro¬ 
moting the establishment throughout the State of a system of Com¬ 
mon Schools, which shall be equally accessible to the poor as to the 
rich. It is therefore declared that no school shall be deemed a 
“Common School,” within the meaning of this chapter, or be enti¬ 
tled to any contribution out of the School Fund, unless the same has 
been, pursuant hereto, actually kept by a qualified or licensed teacher 
for five months, or, if situated in a district containing less than the 
minimum number of children, for three months during the same 
school year, and at which every white child residing in the district, 
between the ages of six and twenty years, has had the privilege of 
attending, whether contributing towards defraying its expenses or 
not. 

Remarks. 

1. The word common does not, in the sense here used, 
mean low, ordinary, of inferior degree, but it signifies 
“belonging to the public; having no separate owner; 
general; serving for all; universal; belonging to all;” as 
our “common country,” “our Commonwealth,” our 
“common law,” etc. The schools are common in just 
the same sense that the laws are common. 

2. In the case of Henderson , Superintendent Public In- 
stmction, vs. R. H. Collins and W. L. Jett , Commissioner 
Common Schools of Franklin County, the judge expressed 
the following opinion: “The Court is of the opinion 
that the phrase ‘ Common Schools ’ had a fixed and defi- 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


233 


nite meaning in the language and polity of the Common¬ 
wealth at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, 
and that meaning must be now and always what it was 
at the time the phrase was put in the Constitution. 
The Legislature has no power to abrogate or alter, to 
enlarge or diminish, its constitutional meaning. The 
Common School System itself may be enlarged, im¬ 
proved, perfected, and yet supported out of the funds 
set apart by the Constitution for that purpose; but 
all appropriations out of that fund must be solely and 
exclusively in support, in aid of Common Schools, prox- 
imately and directly in aid of such schools. School- 
houses, school libraries, free conveyances to the school- 
houses, or any other such aids to the use and enjoyment 
of a school, are not the school, form no part of it; are 
no direct and proximate aid to the school itself, or a 
system of schools, within the meaning of the Constitu¬ 
tion. They are and can be nothing but means, aids to 
the scholars and teachers, enhancing the value, and facil¬ 
itating the use and enjoyment of the schools.” 

3. In the same case, when before the Court of Ap¬ 
peals, the Court declared: “If we look to the Legisla¬ 
ture on this subject, prior to the adoption of the present 
Constitution, we find that a Common School was a school 
taught in a district laid out by authority of the school 
laws, under the control of Trustees elected under those 
laws, by a teacher qualified according to law to teach.” 

(Sections 18, 19, and 22, act \6th February , 1838, 3 Stat¬ 
ute Laws , 528; section 3, act 1st March , 1842, ibid , 541; 
sections 7 and n, act loth March , 1843, Session Acts, 
1872.) This definition was sustained and adopted by 
the Revised Statutes against the earnest protest of the 
20 


234 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

then Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. R. J. 
Breckinridge. The definition of a Common School 
then given has been undeviatingly adhered to ever since, 
and has been sanctioned by the Court of Appeals as 
correct. {Halbert vs. Sparks , 9 Bush , 259.) 

3. The phrase “in aid of Common Schools’’ is limited 
to mean the payment of teachers, and the necessary 
expenses of the official conduct of the system. It has 
been decided that no money can be expended for school- 
houses, school-house furniture, fuel, books, paper, etc.; 
but that the Constitution restricts the power of the Leg¬ 
islature over the fund to appropriating it to paying for 
schools actually taught. 

4. It will be clearly seen that a school taught for a 
less time than the statutory term, or any part of the 
session, by a teacher without a certificate or license, is 
not a legal school, and therefore not entitled to the 
public money. “Qualified” here means “having a cer¬ 
tificate,” and not possessed of sufficient literary and ad¬ 
ministrative capacities. 

5. No pupil can be excluded from a Common School 
on the ground that he has not paid a tuition fee or rate 
bill. If a subscription school is taught, and draws the 
public fund, those who do not subscribe are equally, by 
law, entitled to the benefits of the Common School. 
Also, every child of pupil age living in the district is 
entitled to the benefit of the school, whether reported 
in the census or not. 

6. The schools are for white children. No child hav- 
ing negro blood is entitled to the benefit of the school 
described in this section. 

§ 2. Nothing in the last section shall preclude a school which is 
kept for a part of the year as a Common School from being kept for 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 235 

the balance of the year as a select or private school, to which none 
but contributors may have the privilege of sending pupils. 

Remarks. 

1. It is clearly implied here that the Trustee may 
allow the school-house of a district to be used by a 
select or private school when not needed for the Com¬ 
mon School. The Trustee, however, has control of the 
house, and may require that it should be kept in repair. 

2. The school must be non-partisan and non-sectarian, 
since the public property cannot be used in the interest 
of either a sect or a party. 

§ 3. The school year shall hereafter begin on the first day of July, 
and terminate on the thirtieth day of June. 

§ 4. Twenty-two school days, or days in which teachers are actually 
employed in the school-room, shall constitute a school month in the 
Common Schools of the State. 

§ 5. In districts where the number of children of pupil ages exceed 
one hundred, the Trustee may employ an assistant to the principal 
teacher when the regular attendance exceeds fifty; and in no case 
shall less than two teachers be employed when the regular attendance 
is sixty or over. 

Remarks. 

1. Where unavoidable obstacles or circumstances have 
prevented a school from beginning in time to conclude a 
legal session by the 30th of June, it has been allowed to 
run over into the next school year and draw the fund. 
This arrangement, however, must not be a matter of 
convenience, but rendered necessary by circumstances 
beyond the control of the Trustee. 

2. Legal holidays, and the time the teacher is en¬ 
gaged in attendance upon the Institute, may be counted. 
The legal holidays are the 22d of February, the 4th of 
July, and 25th of December of each year, and all days 
appointed by the President of the United States or by 


17 


236 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

the Governor of the Commonwealth as days of fasting 
or thanksgiving. If any of these days occur on Sun¬ 
day, the next day thereafter shall be observed as a holi¬ 
day. (General Statutes, Chapter 51.) 

3. Assistant teachers must have certificates. 

4. If the attendance is over sixty pupils, it is obliga¬ 
tory on the Trustee to employ a second teacher. This 
provision rests upon the assumption that one teacher 
cannot do justice to more than sixty pupils. 

§ 6. All pupils who may be admitted to Common Schools shall com¬ 
ply with the regulations established in pursuance of law for the gov¬ 
ernment of such schools. Willful disobedience and defiance of the 
authority of the teacher, habitual profanity and vulgarity, or other 
gross violation of propriety or law, shall constitute good cause for 
suspension or expulsion from school. 

Remarks. 

1. The rules and regulations of the State Board of 
Education are mandatory, and have all the force and 
effect of the statute. 

2. The authority of the Trustee and teacher is fully 
treated of under articles 7 and 8. 

3. In extreme cases of sudden and violent insubor¬ 
dination, or vicious and refractory conduct, where the 
temporary removal of a pupil from the school-room is 
necessary; or when a pupil who has been expelled by 
the directors persistently refuses to leave the school; 
or when a scholar maliciously places himself in the chair 
of the instructor, or in the seat of another scholar, and 
refuses to leave it on the request of the master—in such 
cases, and others of like character, the teacher may 
compel obedience by force , and call to his aid such 
assistance as may be necessary to effect that object. 
(Stevens vs. Fassett, 27 Maine , 266.) 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


237 


4. The teacher is responsible for maintaining good 
order, and he must be the judge of the degree and 
nature of the punishment required, when his authority 
is set at defiance. At the same time he is liable to the 
party injured for any abuse of‘a prerogative which is 
wholly derived from custom. {Com. Sch. Dec . N. Y, 
102.) 

5. In a case where a boy had committed a theft out 
of school, the teacher called him to account for it, and 
punished him for refusing to answer. The court ruled 
that the teacher had no right to punish him for refusing 
to confess a crime for which he might be punished at 
law. 

§ 7. No books, tracts, papers, catechisms, or other publications of 
a sectarian, infidel, or denominational character, shall be used or 
distributed in any Common School, nor shall any sectarian or infidel 
doctrine be taught therein. 

§ 8. Whenever a university, .college, academy, or high school, which 
shall be exclusively devoted to the education of white children, not 
under the control of a religious denomination, may be established in 
any county, the Commissioner for such county, upon written appli¬ 
cation of the curators, trustees, or managers of such institution of 
learning, may lay off a Common School district including the same. 
The curators, trustees, or managers of such institution shall be 
deemed Common School Trustees for such district, and shall perform 
all the duties required of, and be liable to all the penalties provided 
against, Common School Trustees by this chapter. Such district 
shall, upon complying with the provisions of this chapter, be entitled 
to its proportion of the revenue of the School Fund: Provided , All 
white children residing in said district, between the ages of six and 
twenty years, shall have the privilege of attending such institution 
of learning, free of charge, for at least five months during each 
school year: Provided further , That no money shall be drawn from 
the School Fund for children not residents of such district: Provided 
further, That before said district shall be laid off, or the school placed 
under the control of the curators, trustees, or managers aforesaid, 
the consent of a majority of the qualified voters, under the school 


238 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

law, shall be obtained at an election to be held as required under this 
chapter for the election of a Trustee; said consent to be for a period 
of one year. 

Remarks. 

1. This provision cannot apply to any institution under 
the control of a religious sect. It is not sufficient to say 
that religion is not taught in the school. It must be 
under secular administration. 

2. Any institution desiring to avail itself of the privi¬ 
lege of this section must apply, in writing, to the Com¬ 
missioner, who is vested with the sole power of laying 
off districts. The Commissioner may then notify the 
Trustee to submit the question to a vote of the school 
'electors of the district, at an election to be held on the 
first Saturday of July. It is optional with the Commis¬ 
sioner whether he will grant the petition or refuse to do 
so. He knows how such an arrangement would affect 
the school interests of other districts, and must employ 
his judgment to determine whether it will be for the 
public good. 

3. Such an institution cannot pro rate the School Fund 
upon tuition fees. The Common School branches must 
be taught absolutely free. The aggregate School Fund 
apportioned the district pays for this. There is no such 
thing as a divisible personal interest in the School Fund. 
If a pupil pursues branches beyond the Common School 
course, he may be charged tuition, but cannot be cred¬ 
ited with a supposed per caput interest in the School 
Fund. 

4. The census of that district must include only actual 
residents; pupils living there temporarily to enjoy the 
benefits of the school are not residents within the mean¬ 
ing of the law. 


COMMON SCHOOL LAWS. 


239 


5. It is competent for the management to teach a five 
months’ free school, or allow pupils pursuing Common 
School branches five months’ tuition at any season of 
the year. If, for instance, the first five months are 
taught as a Common School, the managers should notify 
the patrons of the district so that they may have oppor¬ 
tunity to send their children. If, after having published 
this arrangement, some do not elect to come, they can¬ 
not afterwards claim the benefit of the school free of 
charge. If it is preferred by the managers, the pupils 
may be received at any time, and credited with five 
months’ tuition. 

6 . A School Trustee cannot make any compromise 
with the trustees of a seminary, academy, or any private 
institution, by which he agrees to part with any of his 
lawful jurisdiction and government of the school. If 
he attaches the Common School to a private school or 
seminary, by a vote of the district, the teachers thereof 
must have certificates. 

Article XII .—Fines and Amercements. 

§ 1. All fines, forfeitures, and penalties imposed by this chapter, 
and not otherwise provided for herein, shall be enforced by indict¬ 
ment in the circuit court by the grand jury, and it shall be the duty 
of the circuit judge to give this in charge to the grand jury. 

§ 2. All fines and forfeitures recovered under this chapter shall be 
paid into the Treasury, and placed to the credit of the Common 
School Fund. 

§ 3. But this chapter is not to affect, modify, or repeal any local or 
special law which establishes any city or town in one district, but the 
same shall be governed in all respects by the local laws and authori¬ 
ties. 

§ 4. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall annually revise 
the School Laws, omitting all that has been repealed, and inserting 
in its proper place that which is amendatory. 


240 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Remarks. 

1. This duty is greatly neglected by the circuit judges. 
We have heard several charges to the grand - jury, and 
never heard the school penalties mentioned. It is within 
the power of the circuit judges to perform a great ser¬ 
vice to Common Schools by insisting on respect for the 
laws enacted for the government of the system. A 
great obstacle now in the way of our schools is the wide¬ 
spread contempt of law upon the part of those intrusted 
with the official management of the system. That the 
judges may be assisted to a speedy knowledge of the 
penal provisions of this chapter, I indicate them by 
reference here, in detail: Section 6, article 2; section 13, 
article 5; section 16, article 5; section 17, article 5; sec¬ 
tion 19, article 5 ; section 24, article 5; section 3, article 
7; section 14, article 7; section 16, article 5; section 18, 
article 5. 

2. The Superintendent is made a perpetual revisor of 
the statutes. After the close of each Legislature he 
makes the necessary revision. Therefore, Commission¬ 
ers and lawyers should be careful to consult the laws as 
published by the Superintendent, for they alone contain 
the amendments. Those who refer to chapter 18 of the 
General Statutes may fall into error, because the law as 
there printed may have been amended. 


APPENDIX. 


Chapter I.— The Teachers * Institute. 

Those adept, should be present to instruct others; 
those lacking, should be present to learn of experience 
the improved methods and agencies of education. The 
Institute should never be transformed into a mere de¬ 
bating club. It is not intended for the display of grace¬ 
ful gestures, flights of oratory, and the phrasing of finely 
rounded periods of rhetoric. It is not the non-profes¬ 
sional audience that is to be entertained , but the teachers 
to be taught. The exercises may be occasionally varied 
by recitations of poetry or elocutionary readings, but 
even these should be intended to illustrate the art of 
phonetics, and the method, by voicing and pauses, of 
interpreting the meaning of an author; for English has, 
when read aloud, to be translated to the ear , quite as 
much as a foreign language to the eye. Music may be 
provided to relax the strain. 

The evening lectures should furnish general instruction 
and rational entertainment. In these lectures, many 
themes of popular interest may be unfolded, and for¬ 
eign and local talent employed. All mere hobbies 
should be avoided, or at least limited. 

To prevent hobbies, a programme should be provided 
in advance, and as rigidly adhered to in the procession 
21 



242 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

of exercises, and the time allotted to each, as the cir¬ 
cumstances will allow. When a subject is unexhausted 
and deserves larger treatment, do not trench on the time 
assigned to another, but lay it over to be taken up when 
there is a vacancy in the programme, or made a special 
order when miscellany is provided for. It would be well 
for the Commissioner to appoint, a year in advance, a 
Committee on Programme. 

As many of the county teachers should be brought 
into requisition as their talent to profit will permit. 
It is a mistake to turn over the conduct of the entire 
Institute to one instructor, no matter how varied his 
methods, and how adept in his arts. Many a man 
becomes conscious of power simply by the effort to ex¬ 
ercise it, as the value of many a precious stone is dis¬ 
covered by friction. It should be a prime consideration 
to so arrange and conduct the exercises as to necessitate 
thinking and working upon the part of those present. 
Every teacher should provide himself with a common¬ 
place book, and carefully and diligently note everything 
deemed worthy of preservation or critical inquiry in the 
leisure hours intervening the Institute. As many class 
exercises should be conducted as the general range of 
subjects and the time will allow. We have listened with 
painful impatience to long essays on “Ambition,” “Pre¬ 
historic Remains,” and kindred themes, when seriously 
impressed that the essayist, however brilliant, was beating 
the air, or whistling to the wind. Such subjects have a 
latitude non-conformable to the object of the Institute, 
and are themes quite as apposite as the sermon of the 
preacher who took for his text, ‘ ‘ I have many things to 
say unto you,” and, his congregation would have heard 


APPENDIX. 243 

finally , “but ye cannot bear them now,” with unalloyed 
pleasure, and a long breath of relief. 

It is not the purpose of these Institutes to examine 
teachers, nor to hold “a mutual admiration society,” 1 
nor to display the metaphysical acuteness, philosophical 
acumen, and elocutionary powers of real or conceited 
genius. The moment the Institute is allowed to degen¬ 
erate into a “quiz” exercise, the timid are frightened, 
and even the boldest feel insulted at being put upon the 
inquisitorial rack. We may, indeed, profitably, at in¬ 
tervals, have “experience meetings,” “anxious seats,” 
and “inquirers,” if the intent is to inspire to loftier 
aims and nobler aspirations; but if the purpose is to 
expose the ignorant, and to exalt the conceited, then 
the time is worse than wasted. We should have a deal 
of real teaching—that is, going through the modus operan- 
di of conducting a model school—calling it to duty, organ¬ 
izing for the day, summoning the classes, hearing recita¬ 
tions, and illustrating the “monitor,” “self-reporting” 
system, and “checking” plan, the “no-whispering” rule, 
and, indeed, the whole law and police of a well-con¬ 
ducted school. To effect this, the teachers should be 
detailed to represent various ages and grades of pupils, 
from the infant class up, each section endeavoring to 
lapse into the ignorance, and the unsophisticated and 
mercurial condition of childhood—asking the teacher such 
questions, under assumed ignorance, as will put him on his 
method of instruction, and occasionally affecting such a 
stupidity, idleness, inattentiveness, or an impropriety, as 
will call for his plan of discipline in such cases. Theory 
and practice should be so combined that, like the binary 
stars, they may blend in one beam of light that shall fincf 
its way to the most darkened recesses of receptive minds. 


244 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


One or two teachers from abroad are adequate. The por¬ 
tion to be performed by them should be determined by 
the character of the home teachers. Any who can afford 
true aid should be welcomed and given opportunity to 
extend it. A prelection should not generally exceed 
half an hour, and the discussion no longer, so that the 
whole subject may be disposed of within an hour. For 
instance, grammar may be assigned an hour for each day 
until the subject is exhausted, in the following order: 

1. Primary Grammar. 

2. Intermediate Grammar. 

3. Prosody. 

4. Criticism upon difficult sentences and the gram¬ 
matical relations of all the parts to the whole. 

5. Grammar as applied to speech. Colloquialisms, 
alliterations, the unity of a metaphor, comparisons, cli¬ 
maxes, etc., including what is generally understood by 
rhetoric. And so with other branches. 

The first three exercises should be with classes. Where 
it can be done, it is well to have classes of children who 
do not actually know, and these can be furnished from 
the schools of almost any locality. It would, indeed, 
be well for the teachers and parents to encourage the 
attendance of children upon the Institute. The Com¬ 
missioner should provide as many aids as practicable— 
such as blackboards, maps, charts, globes, reading cases, 
numeral frames, etc. By a little enterprise the teachers 
of each county might purchase a full set of apparatus. 
A collection could annually be taken for this purpose, a 
lecture or concert given during the Institute, at which 
a price of admission would be charged, the proceeds to 
be applied to purchasing these aids. 


APPENDIX. 


245 


The exercises should always begin precisely at the 
time, the roll should be called, the absentees noted and 
required—the same as a pupil at school—to give an ade¬ 
quate excuse for absence or the lack of punctuality. 
Punctuality is one of the greatest of human virtues; 
and if the teacher would enforce it upon his pupils, he 
must scrupulously practice it himself. 

Variety should be observed, not only in the exercises 
of a single year, but in those of a series of years. One 
Institute should not run in the ruts cut by a preceding 
one. 

In all cases the County Commissioner should notify, 
at least three weeks in advance, all the teachers and 
Trustees of his jurisdiction of the time and place of 
holding the Institute, being careful to select a locality 
and season best suited to the purpose. The Commis¬ 
sioner is ex officio chairman, and should always preside. 

I have yet to mention two valuable agencies that may 
be employed at the Institute. First, a critic—appointed 
daily, who shall carefully note whatever should be cor¬ 
rected and what specially commended in the exercises 
and conduct of the Institute. Second, a query box, in 
which may be dropped any inquiries of special interest. 
Mere arithmetical or other puzzles should not be noticed. 
The queries should not be addressed to any particular 
person, as this might serve to seriously embarrass- the 
most scholarly, and to afflict the bashful, but they should 
be left to voluntary answer; and should no one under¬ 
take a response, let them be quietly passed by. 

Having been frequently applied to for a constitution 
and by-laws appropriate to an Institute, I append a draft 
sufficiently full to answer every purpose: 


246 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article I. 

This Institute shall be known as the-Teachers* 

Institute. 

Article II. 

The object of this Institute shall be the improvement 
of its members in the science of teaching, and in the 
most approved practice; the diffusing of information 
upon the system of Common School education among 
the people, and promoting harmony of feeling, and the 
greatest possible advancement in scientific and general 
information. 

Article III. 

Any teacher or friend of education may become a 
member of this Institute by subscribing to the constitu¬ 
tion, and paying an annual fee of-. 

Article IV. 

The regular meetings of this Institution shall be held 
at such times and places as shall be fixed by the Com¬ 
missioner. 

Article V. 

The regular officers of this Institute shall be a presi¬ 
dent, three vice presidents, a secretary and assistant sec¬ 
retary, and a committee of arrangements, and shall be 
elected annually on the first day of the first session in 
each year. 

Article VI 

It shall be the duty of the president, and, in his ab¬ 
sence, a vice president, to preside at all meetings of the 
Institute, decide points of order, preserve due decorum, 
and regulate the exercises according to a programme 
furnished him by the Board of Examiners of the county, 
or a committee of the Institute. 




APPENDIX. 


247 


Article VII. 

It shall be the duty of the secretaries to keep a faith¬ 
ful record of the proceedings of the Institute, take down 
an abstract of the instruction, debates, essays, and lec¬ 
tures, record the reports of the committees, and prepare 
certificates of membership. 

Article VIII. 

It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to fix the 
time and place for holding the Institute—give at least 
twenty days’ previous notice of the same through the 
county papers or by handbill, and to the Trustees, and 
secure the services of competent lecturers, instructors, 
essayists, and singers, for conducting the exercises. 

Article IX. 

All regular officers shall be elected by ballot, and a 
majority shall elect. 

Article X. 

Any of the provisions of this constitution may be 
amended, and new articles added thereto, at any regular 
meeting, by giving two days’ previous notice of the pro¬ 
posed amendment or addition: Provided , Two thirds of 
the members present vote in favor of such amendment 
or addition. 

The following model programme was prepared and 
issued under the direction of the Department of Public 
Instruction of the State of New Hampshire: 

ORDER OF EXERCISES. 

Monday Afternoon. 

2.00—Devotional Exercise.. 

2.15— Organization.Superintendent. 

2.30—Arithmetic—Introduction.Prof. E. K. 

3.15— Reading—Introduction.Mrs. H. M. M. 




248 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


Evening. 

Lecture—The Brain.Mr. C. C. L. 

Select Readings. Mrs. H. M. M. 

Tuesday Forenoon. 

9.00—Devotional Exercise. 

9.15 — Arithmetic—Fundamental Rules. Prof. E. K. 

Questions . 

10.00 —Business Arrangements of the School .... Superintendent. 

IO.45—Temperaments .Mr. L. 

11.30—Map Drawing. Mrs. M. 

Afternoon. 

I.30—Penmanship. 

2.00—Qualification of Teachers .J. E. V. 

2.45—Natural Sciences in School.Mr. L. 

3.15— Reading—Object-teaching. Word method, 

Elements.Mrs. M. 

Evening. 


Free Discussion—How Improve our Common 

Schools?. 

7.00—Duties of Parents.Prof. K. 

7.20—Employ Better Teachers . ..Mr. V. 

7.40—Furnish Blackboards, Maps, Dictionaries, &c. Mrs. M. 

8.00—Require better Supervision. . . .Superintendent. 

8.15— Citizens .... . 

Wednesday Forenoon. 

9.00—Devotional Exercise. 

9.15— Arithmetic—Fractions. .Prof. K. 

Questions. 

10.10—Geography.Mr. V. 

11.00—School-Room Arrangements.Mr. L. 

11.45—How to Extemporize School Aids.Mr. V. 

Afternoon. 

1.30—Pure Air—Ventilation.Mr. L. 

2.00—Grammar—Elements, Oral Instruction . . . B. W. C., A. M. 

Questions. 

3.00—Reading—Articulation.J. E. V., A. M. 

Evening. 

Lecture—A Forming World.Mrs. M. 




















APPENDIX. 249 

Thursday Forenoon. 

9 * 00 —Devotional Exercise.Rev. Mr. C. 

9 * * 5 —Arithmetic—Interest.Prof. K. 

Questions. 

10.00—Moral Instruction.Mr. C. 

10.30—Health of Teachers.Mr. L. 

11.15—Composition.Mr. V. 

11.45— General Questions. 

Afternoon. 

1.30— Grammar.Mr. C. 

Questions. 

2.30— Spelling—Primary Classes.Mr. J. M. F. 

3.00—Astronomy.'.Mr. V. 

3.45— Logic of Teaching.Mr. C. 

4 * * 5 —Reading—Pronunciation. 

Evening. 

Lecture—School Management.Prof. H. O. 

Friday Forenoon. 

9.00—Devotional Exercise.Rev. Mr. C. 

9 »i 5 —Proportion, Roots.Prof. K. 

Questions. 

10.10— Grammar—Analysis.Mr. C. 

11.10— School Government. 

Afternoon. 

1.30— Map Drawing.Mr. F. 

2.00—Head Work, Head Rest.Mr. L. 

2.30— School Law, School Register.Superintendent. 

2.45— Spelling—Advanced Classes.Mr. F. 

3. 10—How to Interest and Teach Primary Classes ? Supt. J. G. E. 

3.45— Reading—Expression . . ..Mrs. M. 

Evening. 

Lecture—Discipline. .J. G. E, 

Select Readings.Mrs. M. 

Those desiring further information are referred to 
Bates’ Teachers’ Institute, Fowles’ Teachers’ Institute, 
Phelps’ Teachers’ Hand Book, and How to Teach (Scher- 
merhorn & Co.) 


























250 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Chapter II .—Examination of Teachers . 

The State Board of Education has recommended 
printed questions for written examination. 

It is exceedingly desirable that County Boards of Ex¬ 
aminers should employ nearly, if not quite, the same 
plan in ascertaining the grades of teachers’ certificates. 
An applicant rejected in one county goes before the 
Board of another and obtains a certificate, even though 
the same questions have been put in each. 

From the quality, and not the quantity of questions 
and problems submitted, decide the per centage of value, 
and enlarge or decrease this per centage to show what 
worth is to be given the work executed by the candi¬ 
date. In a list of questions submitted there will be a 
variety of values. One may contain more principles and 
be a severer tax upon capacity, and therefore a keener 
test of ability, than are embraced in several others. 
One may make demands of memory, while another may 
call into vigorous exercise all the reasoning powers of 
the mind. One may require the application of a single 
rule, and another several or parts of several rules, and 
perhaps, indeed, principles that have never been formu¬ 
lated; Now, it is apparent that injustice may be done 
by attributing an established value to each question or 
problem. Let, therefore, the Examiners apply their 
intelligence, and affix a true value to each, and grade 
the applicant by a standard that is flexible, and accom¬ 
modates itself to the quality of the exercise that has 
engaged the applicant’s attention. Though, for illustra¬ 
tion, a candidate should be able to answer four out of 
five questions submitted, the one upon which he fails 
may indicate a lack of scholarship, or of independent 
intellectual powers, sufficient to create a suspicion, if 


APPENDIX. 


251 


not a demonstration, that there is ignorance of the un¬ 
derlying principles of the whole science under investi¬ 
gation. Therefore, the paper of a candidate should be 
looked at in its entirety—the relation of the parts to the 
whole, and of the whole to the parts. To those who 
understand the terms, I better express it when I say, an 
examination paper should be criticized both analytically 
and synthetically. The elements to be considered in 
making up a verdict should be the indications of disci¬ 
plined intellect a paper affords, the testimony it yields 
of mental habits of accuracy and detail of attainments, 
and the general manner in which it is presented in the 
manuscript for the inspection of the Examiners. This 
plan will be found to be much more reliable than the 
common method of giving to each question the same 
value, and then counting the number of questions an¬ 
swered. 

In no case should a higher grade certificate be granted 
than the merit of the examination will clearly justify. 
The applicant should be made to know his exact stand¬ 
ing, and how much additional study he must undertake 
in order to graduate in the diplomas of the Common 
School. The ambition of teachers should be excited— 
the one possessing a second-class certificate to acquire a 
second-grade first-class, and the one holding a second- 
grade first-class to aspire to and struggle for a first-class 
first-grade—and then to reach out for the diploma given 
by the State Board of Examiners. 

License should be given only in extreme cases —never 
from mere considerations of economy. 

While the questions furnished by the State Board are 
not mandatory, but it is optional with the County Board 
whether or not they are employed, I believe them ad- 

tR i 


252 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

mirably adapted to the ends for which they are framed, 
and believe that their universal use would contribute 
largely to establish uniformity, and to raise the plane of 
the teachers’ profession. Examiners will bear in mind 
the three following tests of teaching ability: 

First. Education; that is, knowledge of the branches 
prescribed to be taught in the Common Schools, and the 
ability to convey instruction. 

Second. “ Good moral character.” 

Third. Capacity to govern. 

Let the County Examiners be scrupulous in withhold¬ 
ing certificates to those not clearly entitled to them, and 
to give no testimonials which shall in anywise tend to 
hoodwink the unsuspecting. Every teacher who respects 
his calling will respect them for such a course, and those 
who blame are not of sufficient importance, in a matter 
of this sort, to be regarded. 

I suggest some questions, the answers to which will 
enable Examiners to make up a judgment as to the 
capacity of applicants, and their ability to govern, and 
general information of what is included in the compre¬ 
hensive circle of the teacher’s, vocation. Inquiries as to 
experience in instruction, and whether it is his purpose 
to make teaching a life-work. The teacher may be re¬ 
quired to write an application to a Trustee for an engage¬ 
ment to teach a district school. This will furnish a fair 
test of his chirography, posture while writing, orthog¬ 
raphy, syntax, versatility, and familiarity with proper 
forms. A few words from this application may be given 
him to parse. Divide education into three parts, name¬ 
ly : mental, moral, and physical ? What belongs to each ? 
Is written arithmetic a part of moral education? If a 
teacher furnishes his pupils with comfortable seats, fresh 


APPENDIX. 


*53 


air, and judicious exercise, to what class of education 
does he attend? What do you know about the human 
body which would induce you to be careful with regard 
to seats and desks, about opening or shutting windows, 
and changing the postures of pupils, etc. ? 

What motives would you employ in stimulating your 
scholars to study? Which do you regard as best, fear, 
love, emulation, approbation of parents, the hope of 
getting money, or a desire to please God? Which of 
these motives would you combine so as to establish the 
best government in your school? Do you think teach¬ 
ing by memory, solely, the best method of education? 
How do you begin to teach reading? What do you 
think of the relative value of the alphabetic, word, and 
phonic systems of teaching beginners to read? Which 
do you think the best, and why? Would you combine 
all? What do you think of writing on slates and black¬ 
boards as aids in learning letters, in spelling and reading? 
May definitions be advantageously taught before a child 
can read? When and how? 

At what age would you begin to teach penmanship? 
How? Would you use slates? The blackboard? How 
do you teach a child to sit, hold the pen, etc. ? Would 
you connect writing with spelling? Defining? Arith¬ 
metic? Reading? Geography? How? 

At what age would you have your pupils begin Arith¬ 
metic? How? Would you rely solely on books? What 
aids would you employ in teaching numeration? When 
and how would you begin to instruct in Grammar? How 
could you make it practically useful? Name something 
offensive to good manners frequent in children which you 
would promptly correct? 


254 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

Name something reprehensible in morals frequently 
observed in pupils which you would strenuously rebuke. 

Are you acquainted with the best books calculated to 
aid teachers in their profession? Those teachers who 
patronize school periodicals, and read works on peda¬ 
gogics, should have credit in making up the grade and 
class of their certificates. Do you subscribe for any 
school journal? Is there any such periodica^ published 
in our State, and where? Have you read the rules and 
regulations of the State Board of Education? Who is 
Superintendent of Public Instruction ? How many Trus¬ 
tees to a district? What is the length of a legal term 
fora Common School? When and how are the teachers 
paid? Will you be careful to keep the prescribed regis¬ 
ter of your school ? 

These, and many similar questions, will enable the 
Examiners to make up a judgment as to the qualifica¬ 
tions of the candidate, and to better determine the grade 
of certificate which should be given him. I again en¬ 
join upon Commissioners, as a measure just to those 
who are the best informed, and otherwise best capaci¬ 
tated to teach, and as the only reliable stimulus to those 
who are defective in the knowledge of the branches to 
be taught, and in the ability to govern, and in the gen¬ 
eral intelligence which differentiates a good teacher from 
an indifferent or bad one, to never grant a first-class first- 
grade certificate except to one who is so manifestly entitled 
to it as to leave no possible doubt in the minds of the Ex¬ 
aminers that the candidate is clearly entitled to it as a matter 
of merit and distinction . 


APPENDIX. 255 

Chapter III .—District Taxation. 

I propose to illustrate the benefits of district taxation. 
Let us take Bourbon county for an illustration. Bourbon 
county pays about twenty-five thousand dollars a year 
school tax, under the law levying twenty cents on the 
one hundred dollars’ worth of property. She reported 
last year 2,761 white pupil children, and received, upon 
the basis of the State apportionment, $5,245.90. Now it 
is evident that Bourbon county, under the State system, 
pays $19,754.10 to the support of Common Schools, 
without her own borders, and for which she receives in 
return no immediate benefit. I do not say that she does 
not, by reflex influences, receive a benefit equal to all 
she pays. The State is a unit. Its division into coun¬ 
ties is for mere political convenience. The representa¬ 
tive of the poorest county in the State is as potent in 
the halls of legislation as that of the richest. It is just 
as important for his constituency to be intelligent and 
virtuous as those of the member from the wealthiest. 

If the people are interested in a just and beneficent 
management of public affairs, each county, of equal rep¬ 
resentation, is the peer in influence and political power 
of every other. Bourbon county has, therefore, an in¬ 
terest in the character of citizenship which justifies her 
paying a margin for the education of the children in 
counties less favored with wealth. 

But could Bourbon county keep all the money she 
pays under the State system at home, she would have 
about $9.50 to apply to the education of each of her 
pupil children. Bourbon county has thirty-two school 
districts. Aa equal division of this sum to each would 
yield about seven hundred and eighty dollars. Now let 
Bourbon county, by the districts in detail, adopt the 


256 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

present provisions of the law, and vote an additional tax 
of twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars’ worth 
of property. She now receives from the State the sum 
of $5,245.90. This district tax, every cent of which 
would be kept in the locality where voted and levied, 
would yield $31,150; which, added to the sum appor¬ 
tioned by the State, would give the handsome aggregate 
of $36,395.90, or $1,134.24 to each district’as an annual 
educational fund. This would be at a cost of about 
$13.54 to each pupil child. From unquestionable data 
of information, the education of this number of children 
by the same character of instructors as could be em¬ 
ployed by this system under the private school system 
would cost over $60,000. Then taking into account the 
absence of good schools in each neighborhood, the ex¬ 
pense of transportation, board, etc., incident to sending 
children abroad, on account of the lack of home facili¬ 
ties, to say nothing of the advantages, of having children 
under constant parental influence, and the cost would be 
well-nigh doubled. So, if Bourbon county would put in 
operation the system contemplated by local taxation, 
she would retrench all she is required to send abroad, 
educate all the children within her own borders, and 
actually create a margin of economy in the cost of edu¬ 
cation. Eleven hundred and thirty-four dollars ought 
to secure the services of a valuable educator for nine 
months—one perfectly competent to the training of boys 
and girls in all the elements of a good English education. 

It is, therefore, perfectly apparent, to my mind, that 
all the benefits of a system of public education can be 
thoroughly compassed by such a county as Bourbon at 
an actual less cost to the average man of property than 
can be achieved in any other way; while, at the same 


APPENDIX. 


257 


time, all the benefits of enlightenment are equally ex¬ 
tended to all who otherwise would be left in the dark¬ 
ness of ignorance, and all the dire consequences that are 
incident to a life groping through intellectual night. 

I am now, after these illustrations, prepared to say 
that the only way in which the system of other States 
has been developed to that point of organization, and 
results which challenge our admiration and excite our 
envy, and in which Kentucky can rival them in achieve¬ 
ment, is through the principle of district taxation. 

In the law, as now in force, the proper way of mak¬ 
ing up deficiencies of school funds—a way that has 
been uniformly pursued by other States that have suc¬ 
ceeded in demonstrating the success of a system of Com¬ 
mon Schools—is clearly manifested, namely: the levying 
of an additional district or ad valorem local taxation. 
Every town in the State has now the right to levy 
thirty cents on the one hundred dollars’ worth of prop¬ 
erty to establish a graded school, and every district to 
levy twenty-five cents to supplement the public fund 
apportioned, in order to improve the character or ex¬ 
tend the time of the public school. 

There is a prevailing sentiment that other States, by 
magnificent resources derived by general taxation, or the 
proceeds of large endowments provided by the sale of 
public lands, have been enabled to achieve those splen¬ 
did results of which we have heard, and to develop those 
systems which challenge our admiration. 

A closer observation of the facts will enable us to per¬ 
ceive that Kentucky, by her constitutional provisions 
and legislative enactments, and the popular vote, has 
been quite as generous, all things considered, as her sis- 
22 


258 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

ter States, and that all that is needed to put her proudly 
abreast of them is to energetically apply the statutes we 
have to the development of our capacities in the matter 
and manner of education. 

A scrutiny of the resources of most of the other 
States having a matured public school system, will de¬ 
velop this fact, namely, that they have reached their 
present efficiency by the agency of local enterprise and 
moneys furnished by a supplementary district tax. The 
general tax in Kentucky, ad valorem , on property, is 
quite as high as elsewhere, and considerably higher than 
in most of the States. 

It is, therefore, quite apparent that our encourage¬ 
ment of Common Schools, by public bonus, is quite as 
large in Kentucky as in other States, and that our laws 
are as good, and that if we would accomplish the re¬ 
sults achieved by them, and rival sister Commonwealths 
in the efficiency of our schools, it must be by detail. 
The people in the districts must vote the tax, and there¬ 
by furnish the fund in each community adequate to the 
giving of the best quality of elementary education to 
the children thereof. Every district containing a city, 
town, or considerable village, or populous and wealthy 
neighborhood, should establish a graded school, and 
every country district, by the supplementary aid of the 
local tax, must seek to improve the quality of the in¬ 
struction, and to extend the term of the school. 

It is quite possible for each district in Kentucky, of 
average wealth, to secure for itself a school equal to 
those of which we have heard so much in States beyond 
the river. We have the law that will allow the levying 
of the tax, and where this is deemed inadequate to the 


APPENDIX. 259 

compassing of a comprehensive scheme, special legisla¬ 
tion can be readily secured. 

Chapter IV .—Graded Schools. 

What is a graded school ? One in which the scholars 
are classed according to their attainments, and, in which 
all of a like grade pursue, at the same time, the same 
studies. It is but applying to education the principle 
of division of labor which regulate the mechanic arts and 
commercial pursuits. We have, now, graded schools in 
every city in the Commonwealth, with the exception 
of Bowling Green, and efforts are being made there to 
establish one, which will doubtlessly prove successful. 
Every school should be graded to the fullest extent that 
circumstances will allow—the country district as well as 
the city. In grading a school, teachers should be careful 
that only pupils of the same attainments and ability are 
placed in the same class; for when this is not regarded, the 
sprightly student becomes idle from not having enough 
to engage his attention, and the slow and stupid indolent 
from sheer discouragement. Scholars need not neces¬ 
sarily recite in the same grade in all branches, as cases 
will occur in which the same pupil will be in arithmetic 
in the primary grade, and in reading in the intermediate. 
It is desirable that those studies in which pupils are be¬ 
hind in their grade receive extra attention, that as soon 
as possible they may recite in the same grade in all their 
studies. No teacher should fail to have a carefully pre¬ 
pared programme posted in his school-room, and scru¬ 
pulously follow its order of exercises day by day. He 
who does not have a set time for each recitation cannot 
successfully conduct a school. It is a manifest absurd¬ 
ity to have two or more different text-books for the same 
grade of pupils. 


26 o 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


It is greatly to be desired that every town of several 
hundred inhabitants should establish a graded school. 
In my report for 1873, the gradation of the several city 
and town systems of this State is set forth in detail. 
Thorough schemes of gradation may be found in Wells’ 
Graded Schools, published by A. S. Barnes & Co., New 
York and Chicago. The proper way to organize graded 
schools is thoroughly illustrated in this work, the author 
having availed himself of the best elements of several 
systems prevalent in the principal cities of the Union. 
The subject is also treated of in Payne’s School Super¬ 
vision, published by Wilson, Hinkle & Co., Cincinnati, 
Ohio. Graded Schools should be at once established in 
Bowling Green, Mayfield, Hickman, Clinton, Fulton, 
Columbus, Madisonville, Cloverport, Brandenburg, Eliz¬ 
abethtown, Lebanon, Danville, Springfield, Hopkins¬ 
ville, Richmond, Winchester, Mt. Sterling, Princeton, 
Georgetown, Russellville, Franklin, Owingsville, Sharps- 
burg, Flemingsburg, Millersburg, Vanceburg, Ashland, 
Catlettsburg, Carrollton, Warsaw, Owenton, Williams- 
town, Bardstown, Midway, Nicholasville, Lancaster, 
Stanford, Carlisle, Eminence, Lagrange, New Castle, 
Falmouth. Graded schools employing from two to four 
teachers are possible to such towns as Hartford, Louisa, 
Mt. Vernon, Shepherdsville, New Liberty, Munfords- 
ville, etc. I will take pleasure in aiding towns contem¬ 
plating the establishment of a graded school system. 
In some instances it may be desirable to secure special 
legislation; but in many localities the provisions of the 
law, as set forth in article 2, and section 6, article 6, will 
be found adequate. The principal difficulty will arise 
when it is desirable to include territory adjacent to the 
corporation limits. 


APPENDIX. 


26 l 


Chapter V .—County Judges. 

In the Kentucky system the County Judge occupies a 
prominent and responsible position. If he is friendly to 
education he may be a powerful factor in helping the 
cause forward, by a close and critical inquiry into the 
manner in which the Commissioner discharges his duty, 
and insisting upon a rigid observance of the require¬ 
ments of the law. If he is careless in the discharge of 
his duties, making no investigation of the way in which 
the Commissioner has executed his trust, in numbers of 
cases, the State will pay for services never rendered, and 
the schools of the county will have to suffer the ruin¬ 
ous consequences of his indifference. An officer who 
has been diligent in the performance of the duties re¬ 
quired of him, and who has supplemented the statutory 
demands by judicious and gratuitous labor, that has 
been fruitful of beneficent results, will covet and invite 
inspection, knowing the closer the scrutiny the more 
it will be seen he is worthy and well qualified, and 
therefore deserving of public esteem and official appro¬ 
bation. One, however, who has been shirking every 
duty that could possibly be evaded, and who is mainly 
concerned to secure the pay, content if his accounts 
and drafts pass official scrutiny, unchallenged, will be 
sensitive, and perhaps recalcitrant, if pressed with ques¬ 
tions and required to exhibit vouchers. 

The duties of the County Judge are summarized as 
follows: 

1. He presides at the election of a County Com¬ 
missioner. (Article 5, section 2, chapter 18, General 
Statutes.') This election must be held at the annual 
meeting of the court of claims. An election held at 
any other time would not be valid, unless the regular 


262 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


annual session had adjourned for that special time for 
the purpose. Should the court neglect to elect at the 
statutory time, the Commissioner in office would hold 
over until the next annual term, and the Commissioner 
then elected would hold for two years. The county 
judge has a vote in common with the justices, but 
should there be a tie he cannot vote again, but in such a 
case there would be no election, and the Commissioner 
then holding would continue in office. A county judge 
is not eligible to the office of County Commissioner. 
The law requires a Commissioner to be possessed of 
“moral character and ability to manage the Common 
School interests of the county efficiently. He shall pos¬ 
sess a good English education, and shall be competent 
to examine the teachers who shall apply to teach the 
Common Schools in the county, and to correctly certify 
the same.” Now, should the court entertain any doubts 
as to the literary qualifications of an applicant, before 
proceeding to vote, the county judge may appoint a 
board of scrutiny to examine him, and should he be 
found incompetent, his election would be invalid. A 
county judge concerned for the educational interests of 
his county will not permit an incompetent man to be 
elected; but, bound by his oath of office, will in this, as 
in other respects, be scrupulous in observing the require¬ 
ments of the statute. 

2. It is the duty of the county judge to see that 
the Commissioner, before entering upon the dis¬ 
charge OF THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE, TAKES THE OATH, 
AND ENTERS INTO COVENANT BEFORE THE COUNTY COURT, 
WITH SUFFICIENT SECURITY, TO BE APPROVED BY THE 
COURT, FOR THE FAITHFUL DISCHARGE OF HIS DUTIES. 


APPENDIX. 


263 

A judge who neglects this may render himself liable 
should the Commissioner default. He has to certify the 
drafts of the Commissioner to the Superintendent and 
Auditor, and those officers proceed upon the presump¬ 
tion that the judge’s official signature is attached to the 
warrant of a bonded officer. Should it turn out that 
the judge had certified these drafts of an uncovenanted 
Commissioner, who misappropriated the public funds 
drawn by him, the parties to whom such money is due 
might maintain an action against the judge, on the 
ground that his laches or neglect is the occasion of their 
not having been properly secured as prescribed by law. 
For the convenience of county judges, I append a form 
for oath of office and bond: 

1. Form of Commissioner’s Oath. 

Before the county court of -county, the subscriber personally 

appeared, and took the following oath: 

I,-, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support 

and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States, and 
the Constitution and laws of the State of Kentucky, and that I will 
faithfully discharge the duties of the office of County School Com¬ 
missioner. A. B. 

-, county of -, this-day of-, A. D. 18—. 

2. Form of Commissioner’s Bond. 

STATE OF KENTUCKY, \ 

-County. / ss ‘ 

Know all men by these presents, that we, A. B., C. D., and E. F., 
are held and firmly bound, jointly and severally, unto the Common¬ 
wealth of Kentucky, in the penal sum of-^dollars, for the 

payment of which we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, and admin¬ 
istrators, jointly and severally, by these presents. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and seals, this 
-day of-, A. D. 187-. 


* The amount of the bond should be sufficient to cover the sum of money that will come 
into the Commissioner’s hands during his term of office. 











264 THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

The condition of the above obligation is such, that if the above 

bounden A. B., Common School Commissioner of-county, 

shall faithfully discharge all the duties of said office, according to the 
laws which now are or may hereafter be in force, and shall deliver to 
his successor in office all moneys, books, papers, securities, and other 
property in his hands as such County School Commissioner, then this 
obligation to be void; otherwise, to remain in full force. 

A. B. [SEAL.] 

[Stamp—$ 1.] C. D. [seal.] 

E. F. [seal.] 

Approved and accepted by-, County Judge. 

3. IT IS THE DUTY OF THE COUNTY JUDGE TO AUDIT 

the accounts of the Commissioner. The duty of the 
Commissioner ( article 5, section 8) is, on or before the 
1 oth of January, February, and May, to prepare and 
send to the Superintendent a report, certified by the 
county judge or clerk , as having been sworn to by him, 
showing the districts in which schools have been taught 
for a full session, and those in which schools have been 
taught for one half the session, &c. The county judge 
or clerk, for his own satisfaction, may require the Com¬ 
missioner to verify the report by exhibiting the certifi¬ 
cates of the Trustees to the fact that the schools have 
been taught as prescribed by law. Instances have oc¬ 
curred in which Commissioners have drawn for districts 
in which no school was taught, and used the money for 
personal purposes; and, in fact, in one case money was 
drawn for fictitious districts, or districts that had no ex¬ 
istence in fact. I again repeat, that officers who are 
conscious of fidelity to trust will not object to the strict¬ 
est scrutiny upon the part of those who are commis¬ 
sioned to make it, and the objections of those who are 
unfaithful ought not to be respected. The judge of the 
county court is required ( article 1, section 11) to exam - 



APPENDIX. 


265 

ine and audit the accounts for services rendered by the 
Commissioner of Common Schools of his county. This 
duty is to be performed between the first and twentieth 
days of January and of July in each year. The judge 
is to hear proof \ and audit and settle the accounts of the 
Commissioner for services rendered by him for the six 
months next preceding such settlement, &c. 

1. The Commissioner is entitled to fifty dollars semi¬ 
annual salary, and the salary should not be certified for 
a longer period than six months , or, in other words, no 
time should be anticipated. If in January the county 
judge were to certify to one hundred dollars (instead of 
fifty)—one year’s salary—thereby anticipating the latter 
half of the school year, and the Superintendent were to 
pay it, and there should be a change of Commission¬ 
ers from any cause, the new officer would be entitled to 
his pro rata for services rendered and time in office, and 
the fund would have been paid to the retiring Com¬ 
missioner, thereby rendering the officers, parties to the 
transaction, liable. It is, therefore, useless to attempt 
the drawing of a salary by anticipation. The prescrip¬ 
tion of the statute must be literally followed. 

2. The Commissioner is entitled to one per cent, on 
the sum actually disbursed. It sometimes happens that 
more money is apportioned a county than is disbursed to 
the teachers. This surplus is returned to the Treasury, 
or remains in it undrawn, and at the close of the year is 
placed to the credit of the county in its bond. The 
amount the county judge must audit on this account is 
one per cent, on the moneys actually paid to the teachers. 

3. The Commissioner is entitled to three dollars for 
each school district visited by him while the school is in 

23 


266 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


session. ( Article 5, section 6.) An attempt is made 
often to evade this by quoting the dislocated language 
of article 1, section n: “Three dollars for each school 
district reported by the County Commissioner;” but, by 
scrutinizing the whole section, you will see that it is 
made the Superintendent’s duty to deduct the sum of 
three dollars, etc. This is necessary that a fund may be 
provided for the payment of each one if visited by the 
Commissioner. The law defining the Commissioner’s 
duty is: “He shall , at least once during the year, visit 
each district school of his county, and investigate and 
direct the operations of the school system, and pro¬ 
mote, by addresses or otherwise, the cause of Common 
Schools.” The intention of this three dollars is to pay 
him for this visitation. Should the school not be vis¬ 
ited, the county judge could allow such a proportion of 
the three dollars as, in his opinion, would pay the Com¬ 
missioner for reporting the census, or any extra trouble 
a particular district may have entailed. 

4. When there has been a change of Commissioners 
during the school year , the county judge shall allow and 
apportion between said Commissioners the compensation to 
which they may be entitled. (Article 1, section 13.) This 
must be in proportion to the time they have respectively 
served, and the amount.of services rendered. For in¬ 
stance, should the new Commissioner have three months 
to serve, he would be entitled to twenty-five dollars 
salary (one fourth). Whoever disburses the money is 
entitled to the one per cent. Should a Commissioner 
report the census and retire before visiting the school, it 
would be equitable to allow him fifty cents for such ser¬ 
vice to each district reported, and allow the Commis¬ 
sioner who performed the visitation the remaining two 


APPENDIX. 


267 

dollars and fifty cents. It may have happened, too, that 
the retiring Commissioner has performed some extra 
service for a district, such as visiting it (when the school 
was not in session) for the purpose of arbitrating some 
difficulty, fixing the site of a school-house, or condemn¬ 
ing an old one; and in such and like cases, it would be 
equitable for the county judge to determine the amount 
respectively due each upon the basis of the actual ser¬ 
vice rendered by each. All, however, under the head 
of the three-dollar allowance, is a matter, purely, upon 
which the judge must exercise his independent judg¬ 
ment, and decide from his personal sense of equity to 
the several parties claiming. 

5. The Commissioner must, on or before the first day 
of June of each year, swear to a census report, certified 
by either the county judge or county clerk. It would 
not be amiss to examine and see whether the districts 
are described by their boundaries in a book kept for the 
purpose, and whether the census is based upon the terri¬ 
tory included within these fixed limits. In one county 
a Commissioner created several districts by number for 
which there was no territory, annually reported them, 
and drew the money for them, appropriating it fraudu¬ 
lently to his personal use, and the fact was not discov¬ 
ered until he turned out a defaulter and had fled the 
country. No man stood higher in his community than 
did this Commissioner. He was a lawyer, a church- 
member, and, at one time, received a large support in a 
convention of his party for State office. If the scrutiny 
is not made at this point as to the actual territorial ex¬ 
istence of a district reported by number, it should be 
made , without a single failure, when the annual settle¬ 
ment is made. 


268 


THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 


6. It is the duty of the county judge to make settlement 
with the Commissioner of all his accounts. This should 
be done on or before' the first day of September next 
after the termination of each school year. Such settle¬ 
ment shall embrace all sums received since the date of 
his last settlement by said Commissioner for the benefit 
of Common Schools taught during the preceding school 
year; a full statement of all such sums paid out by him, 
for what, to whom, and when paid; and should any 
part of said fund received by him as aforesaid remain 
not paid out, he shall state in his settlement, as above, 
to whom and to what district the same belongs, and the 
reasons why it has not been paid out. (Article 5, section 
13.) In making this settlement the county judge should 
require the Commissioner to bring before him the written 
description of the boundary of each district, or other 
satisfactory proof that such districts actually and terri¬ 
torially exist, and the certificates of the Trustees that 
legal schools have been taught by qualified teachers 
(teachers having certificates), and the receipts of teach¬ 
ers for the money paid them, or of the Superintendent 
or Auditor, for money returned as unexpended surplus 
to the Treasury. The object of this settlement is to 
protect the State from fraudulent dealing; and unless 
the scrutiny is close and exhaustive, the proceeding is 
a sham, and the officer derelict of a sworn duty. It 
is a painful fact, that no less than three Commissioners, 
and possibly several more whose affairs are now under¬ 
going investigation, have turned out defaulters during 
the author’s incumbency of the Superintendent’s office; 
and these were rendered possible, in almost every in¬ 
stance, by an overweening confidence and respect for 
morbid sensitiveness upon the part of those whose of- 


APPENDIX. 


269 

ficial duty it was to closely “examine” “hear proof/' 
“ audit ,” and “ certify ” such matters. It is furthermore 
the duty of the county judge, when notified by the 
Superintendent that this settlement has not been re¬ 
ceived at his office, to immediately compel a settlement by 
attachment, &c. ( Article 1, section 13.) Should this 
plain, but in some cases unpleasant duty, be neglected, 
the securities may plead the laches of the county judge, 
and that officer might by much neglect transfer financial 
responsibility from the securities to himself. 

7. Should a vacancy occur in the office of County Com - 
missioner by death , resignation , or inability of the officer 
elect to serve , the presiding judge is empoivered to appoint 
a successor , to continue in office until the succeeding session 
of the court of claims. 

Conclusion. 

I have completed my task. The book has grown 
upon my hands into much larger proportions than I 
contemplated at the outset. Some things will be found 
repeated. This is intentional, it being regarded as very 
important that they should not be overlooked. I have 
drawn from every source that could furnish assistance. 

I have not, in every instance, credited my authorities. 
I am interested only in the claim to originality so far as 
to receive credit for the conception of the book, and the 
industry that produced it. It formed no part of my 
plan to make literary reputation by its composition. 
Where others have expressed the law in suitable terms, 

I have in some instances adopted their language. The. 
book is a growth, and compiled from so many different 
sources, that it is quite impossible for me to know to 
whom I am indebted, in every instance, for the materials 


2 yO THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL-LAWYER. 

employed. The Hon. Newton Bateman has been of 
most service to me. Since Horace Mann, no writer 
upon educational topics has filled so large a space in 
school literature. 

The book has been prepared for the press in a very 
fragmentary way. The copy has been written up at odd 
intervals, and, therefore, the letter-press may lack both 
systematic arrangement and correctness of style. Such 
as it is, I launch it on the sea of public opinion and 
necessities, hoping, after a trial voyage, to be able to 
so improve it, by a thorough revision, as that its now 
acknowledged defects may be remedied. 


ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES. 


TEXT BOOKS RECOMMENDED 

— BY THE — 

Kentucky State Board of Education. 

The following of the Eclectic Educational Series 
are from the list of text books officially recommended by 
the State Board of Education, and now generally used in 
the public schools of Kentucky: 

McGUFFEY’S NEW ECLECTIC SPELLER. 

McGUFFEY’S NEW ECLECTIC READERS. 

DeWOLF’S INSTRUCTIVE SPELLER. 

RAY’S SERIES OF ARITHMETICS. 

ECLECTIC SERIES OF GEOGRAPHIES. 

ECLECTIC SYSTEM OF PENMANSHIP. 

HARVEY'S ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

VENABLE’S UNITED STATES HISTORY. 
THALHEIMER’S ANCIENT HISTORY. 

BROWN’S PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE. 

GOW’S MORALS AND MANNERS. 

WILLIAMS’S PARSER’S MANUAL. 

THE EXAMINER, OR TEACHER’S AID. 

SMART’S MANUAL OF FREE GYMNASTICS. 


The Best Books at the Lowest Prices. 

PRICES reduced. 

The books of the Eclectic Educational Series are 
adopted and now in use in the schools of nearly every 
county in the State. They are also used in the best schools 
throughout the country, and are warmly indorsed by the 
best teachers. The prices have been largely reduced, 
and these books can be made uniform in the schools and 
supplied regularly to them at a great saving of expense as 
compared with any other series. Please see the introduc¬ 
tion and exchange prices in the following pages. 

PUBLISHED BY 

VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO., Cincinnati and New York, 

Successors to Wilson. Hinkle & Co. 





ECLECTIC EDUCATION Ab bCulCo. 


McGuflfey’s Readers and Speller. 

Adopted by Ninety Counties in Kentucky—Used in More Schools 
throughout the United States than any other Series. 


Prices Reduced. 

The following prices are— 


I. Introduction Price. —For first introduction into schools where not already i i 

Use. 

II. Exchange Price. —For first introduction into schools in exchange for the 
Corresponding old books of other series in use in the schools. 

Single Sample Copies to Teachers or School offieers will be sent by mail, post 
paid, on receipt of the ‘‘introduction ” price, with the express understanding that 
they are for examination with a view to introduction. 

Introduction. Exchange. 


McGuffey’s Eclectic Spelling-Book, 
McGuffey’s New First Header, 
McGuffey’s New Second Header, 
McGuffey’s New Third Reader, 
McGuffey’s New Fourth Reader, 
McGuffey’s New Fifth Reader, 
McGuffey’s New : \tli Reader, 


, 11 

$ .08 

.11 

.08 

20 

.15 

,30 

.22 

.35 

• 27 

55 

.40 

65 

.45 


McGuffey’s R~A. >ers are uniform in Ortho^r ■ 7 /y, Syllabica¬ 
tion and Punctuation , conforming strictly to stai. rd authority; 
carefully progressive in gradation; presenting the Oist specimens of 
Style. 

McGuffey’s Readers adopted for exclusive use in the public schools 
of California , and now in use. 

McGaffey’s Readers adopted for exclusive use in the public schools 
Of West Virginia , and now in use. 

McGuffey’s Readers adopted for Maryland , and now in use. 

McGuffey’s Readers adopted for Virginia , and now in u-e. 

McGuffey’s Readers adopted for Nevada . and now in use. 

McGuffey’s Readers adopted for Wyoming and Dakota Terri¬ 
tories, and now in use. 

McGuftev’s Readers are in practically uniform use in the public 
schools of Ohio. 

McGuffey’s Readers are in practically uniform use in the schools 
of Missouri. 


McGuffey’s Readers generally adopted by County Boards and 
County Conventions in Iowa, Tennessee , Mississippi . and now in use. 


The following are some of the leading cities in which McGujfey's 
Readers have been adopted for the public schools, and arc no w in use: 

New York City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, San Francisco, 

Annapolis, Omaha, Evansville, Milwaukee. 

Chattanooga, Natchez, Cleveland. Daw . O. 

Richmond, Va. South Bend, Kansas City, O \ . m, Ky. 

Keokuk, Bowling Green, Ky. New Albany, Sac amento 

McGujfey's Readers are the best and cheapest. 

PUBLISHED BY 


VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO., Cincinnati ana New York, 

Successors to Wilson, Hinkle & Co. 





ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES. 


RAY'S MATHEMATICAL SERIES. 


A Complete cmcl Progressive Course in Arithmetic, Algebra, 
and the Higher Mathematics, adapted to the 
use of schools of every grade. 


NOW GENERALLY USED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, AND 
Universities throughout the Country. 


A rif lime lies are used almost exclusively in the schools 
of Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Arkansas, Utah, etc., etc. And 
more largely used than any other series in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, 
Tennessee. 

1MSUIES REDUCED. 


The following are— 

I. Introduction Price.—For first introduction into schools where not already 

in use 

II. Exchange Price.— For first introduction into schools in exchange for the 
corresponding old hooks ot other series in use in the schools. 

Smgte Sample C pies to Tc achers and School officers will be sent by mail, post¬ 
paid, on receipt of the ’introduction” price, with the express understanding that 
they are for examination with a view to introduction. 


Introduction. 

Ray's Primary Arithmetc, First Book.$ 13 

Ra> ! s Intellectual Arithmetic, Second Book.. 21 

Ray’s Rudiments of Arithmetic, with .or without answer*.. 29 

Ray’s Practical Arithmetic. Third Book . 42 

Ray’s Key t<> Intellectual and Practical Arithmetic. 50 

Ray’s New Primary Arithmetic. 15 

Ray’s New Intellectual Arithmetic. 23 

Ray’s New Practical Arithmetic. 45 

Ray s Test Examples, with or without annwers . 29 

Ray’s Higher Arithmetic. 70 

Ray’s Key to Higher Arithmetic. 75 

Ray s New Elementary Algebra. (17 

Ray’s New Higher Algebra (clo’h) . 85 

Ray’s New Higher Algebra, (xheep) .. 1 20 

Key to Rav’s New Rlemementary and Higher Algebra. 1 00 

Ray’s Plane and solid Geometry. 58 

Ray’s Geometry and Trigonometry. 1 20 

Ray’s Analytic Geometry . . 145 

Ray’s Elements of Astronomy (12 mo, cloth) . 1 00 

Ray’s Elements of Astronomy (8 vo, shetp) . 1 25 

Ray’s Surveying and Navigation.1 25 

Rry’s Differental and Integral Calculus ..— 1 25 


Exchange. 
$ 10 

17 
21 
30 

11 

18 
33 

21 

50 

48 

60 

85 


75 


PUBLISHED BY 


VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO., Cincinnati and New York, 

Successors to WILSON, HINKLE & CO. 

























ECLECTIC FiDUCATIONAL SERIES. 


HARVEY’S GRAMMARS. 


Prices Reduced. 

I. Introduction Pric 3.— - first introduction into schools where not already in 

use. 

II. Exchange Price.—For first introduction into schools in exchange for the 
corresponding old books of other series in use in the schools. 

Single Sample Copies to Teachers or School officers will be sent by mail, post¬ 
paid, on receipt of the “ introduction ” price, with the express understanding that 
they are for examination with a view to introduction. 


Introduction. Exchange. 

Harvey’s Language Lessons, - ■ • - $.17 $.12 

Harvey’s Elementary Grammar, - - - - .28 .20 

Harvey’s English Grammar, .... .55 .40 


These treatises are based upon the doctrine that accuracy and fa¬ 
cility in the use of spoken and written language are the ends to be 
attained by the study of Grammar. They present the best modern 
methods of language culture, and are not encumbered with discussions 
of mere theories, lengthy notes, observations, and exceptions. Cor¬ 
rect use of language in ordinary conversation is taught from the very 
beginning. The typography is clear and attractive. 


Harvey’s Grammars have been officially recommended or adopted 
for the public schools of Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, West Vir- 

E 'nia, Nevada, Nebraska, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, 
ouisiana, Kansas. 

Largely adopted bv counties in Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, 
Michigan, New Jersey. 

Adopted for all the leading cities in Ohio, and in very general use 
in the public schools throughout the State. 

Adopted for many large cities and towns in New York, Pennsyl¬ 
vania, Delaware, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado. 

“ The favor with which Harvey’s Grammars have been received is unparal¬ 
leled in the history of text-books.”— Hon. Z. F. Smith, late State Superintend • 
ent of Public Instruction , Ky. 

PUBLISHED BY 

VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO., Cincinnati and New York, 

Successors to Wilson, Hinkle & Co. 







ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES. 


ECLECTIC GEOGRAPHIES. 

The New Geography—the Product of the Combined Efforts of Ritter 
and Humboldt, taught with Scientific Precision, Clearness 
and Accuracy. 

SUPERIOR IN THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT PARTICULARS: 

I. Compsictties*. All superfluous matter and statements of 
facts foreign to the subject have been carefully omitted. The School 
Geography, No. 3, includes a treatise on Physical Geography , obvi¬ 
ating the necessity of a separate text-book on that subject. 

II. Uni lomnity of' in arrangement and presentation of 

the subject, which greatly facilitates the progress of the pupil. 

III. 4 a ion. The series, and each book of the series, are 
graded easily, naturally, and in a manner to best adapt them to the 
use of schools. 

IV. -vang’. Tl^e map-drawing is most simple and 
practical, and is em , lied in the books. 

V. 9Iap 1**1 ions, uniformly on the pages facing the Maps. 

VI. l*ict orisi l S3 Jlassl rniion*, designed and engraved by the 
best artists, expressly for these books. 

VII. I "E'sb compiled with the utmost care and 

accuracy, from the latest reliable sources. 

VIII. l lio Maps show distinctly Physical features, as well as 
Political boundaries, and are the most beautiful and accurate maps 
published. 


PRICES REDUCED. 

I. Introduction Price. —For first introduction into schools where not already 
in use. 

II. Exchange Price —For first introduction into schools in exchange for the 
corresponding old books of other series in use in the schools. 

Single Sample Copies to Teachers and School officers will be sent, by mail, post¬ 
paid, on receipt of the “ introduction ” price, with the express understanding 
that they are for examination with a view to introduction . 

Introduction. Exchange. 

Eclectic Primary Ceography, No. I, - S .45 S .33 

Eclectic Intermediate Ceography, No. 2, .90 .66 

For Higher Schools : 

Eclectic School Ceography, No. 3, - 1.05 .78 

adopted for 

New York City; Kingston, Rahway, Summit, N. J.; Scituate, Essex, Mass.; 
Pitt^eld, Great Falls, So. Newmarket, N.H.; Meadville, Warren, Claysville, 
Pa.; Council Bluffs, Hurlingl on, Marshalltown, Iowa; Clark- ville,Chattanooga, 
Murfreesboro. Tenn.: Owo so. Decatur, Schoolcraft, Mich.; Madison, Oshkosh, 
Waukesha, VVis.; Joliet, II!.: Da ton, Sandusky, Zanesville, Wooster, Chilli- 
cothe, Portsmouth, Akron, Xenia, Youngstown. Hillsboro, Alliance, Defiance 
—more than five thousand schools —in Ohio; St. Paul, St. Cloud, Minn.; Omaha, 
Neb.; leading cities ai d twenty-nine counties in Mo.; leading cities and forty 
counties in Ind.; leading cities and fifty-seven counties in Ky., etc., etc. 

PUBLISHED BY 

VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG k CO., Cincinnati and New York, 

Successors to Wilson, Hinkle & Co, 






ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES 


ECLECTIC PENMANSHIP. 


The Eclectic System of Penmanship is very extensively used throughout 
the United States, and has been pronounced by Writing- Masters the simplest, 
most practical and business-like, and the most easily taught of any system 
published. The fewest possible elements are introduced ; each letter is given 
separately at first, and then in combination ; the spacing is open, making the 
penmanship legible and easily written ; the analysis is simple, and indicated in 


each letter when first presented : explanations, given on the cover of each book, 
are clear, concise, and complete : the gradation of copies is natural and easily 
progressive. The System comprises : 

Introduction. 

Eclectic Copy-Books, Nos. 1, 2. 3, 4; 5 Boys, 5 Girls; 6 Boys, 6 Girls; 

7 Boys, 7 G r s; 8 Bovs. 8 Girls; 9.$ .10 

(T e opies or Boys and Girls are precisely the same, but in smaller writing for Girls.) 

Eclectic t lenientary < ourse. Nos. 1 and 2 tracing-books; No. 3. 

Smaller .h in the Copy-Books. .07 

Eclectic Exercise-Book. A v riety of exercises, designed to develop 

the differ' nt movements. . 10 

Eclectic Hand-Book, or Key. General directions to teachers; descrip¬ 
tion and analysis of le ters and of movement ; chapters on 
“ Shading.” Spacing,” “ orm. *' etc., etc . .45 

Eclectic Writing-Cards. 72 Numbers on 36 Cards, each 9x13 inches. 

One litter or principle on each number; of large size, to be 
easily seen and studied across the school-room. 4.00 

Copy-Book ('overs. With Blotters, per doz . .20 

Sample-Book of i clectic Penmanship. 200 copies, selected from all 

the Copy-Bo /ks in the series. .10 


“My preference is for the ‘Eclectic Copy-Books.’ and I believe a careful com¬ 
parison will prove them superior in all important points. I sincerely believe I 
can produce better results in the writing with them than those now in use, and 
for this reason only, desire their adoption. The ‘Eclectic Series’ cost the pupil 
no more than any other, and is, in my judgment preferable.”— A. P. Root, 
Sup't of Penmanship, Cleveland , 0. 

The Eclectic Penmanship teas adopted and ia now in satisfactory use in the 
Public Schools of Cleveland. 


Sandusky. 

Saco, Me. 
Wellesville, N. Y. 
Akron, O. 

Md. State Normal ; W. 
Ind.: 47 counties, Mo., eto 


ALSO ADOPTED FOR 

New York City. 

Des Moines. 

Pittsfield, N. H. 
Chillicothe, O. 

Va. State Normal ; 63 


Newton, Mass. 

Omaha. 

E. Machias, Me. 
Greenport, L. I. 

nties, Ky.; 23 counties, 


PUBLISHED BY 

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Successors to Wilson, Hinkle & Co, 












ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES 


VENABLE’S UNITED STATES. 


“ On the whole, the best of its class and size ,”—The Nation, 


A School History of the United States# By W. H. Vbnablb# 

12mo, 280 pages, finely illustrated, and accompanied with carefully drawn map» 
and charts. A concise narration of the leading facts of the history of our conn* 
try, in a pleasing and attractive form. 


Distinguishing Features# 

X. Graphic and picturesque style. 

x. Brevity, secured by rejection of unimportant matter rather than by severe condensation 

3. Unity of design and execution sustained throughout, so that the history is presented 

as an artistic whole, not as a'confused patchwork. 

4. Methodical arrangement of topics in each* chaprer, 

5 A conspicious presentation of our civil and domestic history, including well digested synopses of 
progress in industry, invention and culture. 

5 . A careful tracing out of the elements of our population as to nationality, religious peculiarities, 
a/ d politics, with a clear account of migration and the prevailing course it has taken. 

7. Just prominence to the history of the Great West. 

8. Accuracy and completeness of proper names. The full name of each important 
character is given at least once. The correct spelling and pronunciation of proper names receive par¬ 
ticular attention. 

9 . DISCRIMINATING USE OF dates, and devices for fixing important dates in the mind. 

10. FOOT NOTES referring teacher and pupil to literary matter relating to subjects dis¬ 
cussed in the text. 

11. A METHOD OF STATING questions calculated to avoid conveying to the pupil information 
that should come from him, and which stimulates the pupil to think. 

12. An original system of general QUESTIONS, and directions for both teacher and pupiL 

13. An original system OF biographical reviews, furnishing means of recreation. 

14. Full-page maps, of a greater number than will be found in any other similar text-book, and 
nnequaled for illustrative accuracy, and beauty. 

15. PORTRAITS, very numerous and authentic, and executed by the best artists. 

16. A copious index of all important matters enabling the reader or pupil to refer promptly to any 
Subjects treated in the book. 

Adopted for five hundred large towns and cities; twelve State Normal Schools; 
numerous Colleges, Universities, and Private Schools; over one hundred countie* 
in Kentucky, lnuiana, Missouri, and Iowa. 


REDUCED PRICE. 

Tenable’s U. S. History will be furnished for first introduction into school* 
where not already in use, at TO cents per copy; for first introduction in exchange 
for the corresponding old books in use in the schools, 50 cents. 

Single Sample Copy, by mail, post-paid, for examination with a view to first 
introduction, 70 cents. 

PUBLISHED BY 

VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO., Cincinnati and New York, 

Successors to WILSON, HINKLE & CO. 









ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES. 


THALHEIMER’S HISTORIES. 


BY M. E. THALHEIMERj A. M., 
Formerly Teacher of History in Packer Collegiate Institute. 


Prices Reduced. 


I. Introduction Price.— For first introduction into schools where not already 
in use. 


II. Exchange Price. —For first introduction into schools in exchange for the 
corresponding old books of other series in use in the schools. 

Single Sample Copies to Teachers or School officers will be sent by mail, post¬ 
paid, on receipt of the “introduction ” price, with the express understanding 
that they are for examination with a view to introduction. , 


Introduction. Exchange. 

Thalheimer’s History of England, - - - $ .85 $ .GO 

Thalheimer’S Ancient History, ... - 1.35 1.00 

Thalheimer’s Mediaeval and Modern History, 1.35 1.00 

Thalheimer’S General History, - 1.00 .75 


Eclectic Historical Atlas, .... 1.00 


Thalheimer’s History Of England. —For the use of schools. A compact volume, com¬ 
prehensive in scope, but sufficiently brief to be completed in one school term. 
Ezcellent maps and pictorial illustrations. 12mo, cloth, 288 pp. 

Thalheimer'S Ancient History. —A Manual of Ancient History, from the earliest 
times to the fall of the VV estern Empire. Illustrated with full-page engravings, 
charts of principal cities, and double-page maps. Complete Index and Pronoun¬ 
cing Vocabulary. 8 vo, 378 pp. 

Thalheimer'S Medijeval and Modern History, —Manual of Mediaeval and Modern His¬ 
tory. 12 beautiful and accurate double-page maps. Voluminous Index. 8vo, 
480 pp. 

The Ancient and Mediaeval and Modern Histories are companion vol¬ 
umes, uniform in size, binding and price ; the two volumes together forming a 
complete History of the World from the earliest times: adapted to the use of tne 
general reader, as well as schools and colleges. 

Thalheimer’S General His’ory —Outlines of the World’s history. Carefully con¬ 
densed lrom the author’s Ancient and Mediaeval and Modern Histories. 
Liberally illustrated. 12mo, cloth, 240 pp. 

Thalheimer’s Histories have been introduced very generally into leading colleges, 
universities and high schools throughout the country, as: Wellesley College , 
Mass.; Phillips Acad,., Exeter; Fall River High School, Mass.; Universities of 
Mich., III., Wis., Ohio , Ivans., Ivy.; Thornaston //. S., Me.; Dartmouth Sci. School; 
Feb. State Formal; Sou. 111. Formal; Wooster Univ'y, (>.; De Veaux College , 
N. Y.; Pa. State Formal; Wis. State Formal; Fexoton , Mass., H. S.; Girls' 1 High 
School , Boston; Milwaukee II. S; Indianapolis 11. S. , etc., etc . 

JJgf^The indorsements of Thalheimer’s Histories by the press and edueators 
have been most unqualified. It is generally conceded that they are unequaled . 

Eclec’ic Historical Atlas. —A hand-book for students and general readers. Large 
8 vo, cloth. Eighteen full, clear, and accurately drawn double-page Historical 
maps. 


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Norton’s Physics. Elements of Physics for Academies and Com¬ 
mon Schools. By S. A. Norton, A. M., Prof, in Ohio Agricul- 
iural and Mechanical College. 12mo, cloth, 286 pp. Illustrated, 
*• Introduction ” and “ sample copy ” price, 65 cents ; “ exchange,” 
50 cents. 

Norton’s Natural Philosophy. The Elements of Natural Philosophy, 
Bv S. A. Norton, A. M. A new treatise, embracing latest discov¬ 
eries to date of publication. 12mo, cloth, 458 pp. and complete Index. 
350 illustrations. “Introduction” and “sample copy” price, 90 
cents; “ exchange,” 65 cents. 

Norton's Physics and Norton's Philosophy are in very general use 
in the Public High-Schools of the principal cities of the United States. 
Also, adopted for all the State Normal Schools of New England, and 
twenty-five other State and City Normals. 

Brown’s Physiology. Manual of Physiology and Hygiene. By 
R. . . Brown, late Chemist-in-Chief in the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, Washington, D. C. Divided into 50 lessons. 12mo, 288 pp. 
Illustrated. “Introduction” and “ sample copy ” price, 85 cents ; 
“ exchange,” 60 cents. 

Schuyler’s Logic. The principles of Logic. By A. Schuyler, 
LL. D., Pres't of Baldwin University; author of Algebra. Trigo¬ 
nometry atid Surveying , etc. 12mo, cloth, 168 pp. “Introduction” 
and “ sample copy” price, 50 cents. 

Andrews’s Constitution. Manual of the Constitution of the United 
States. Designed for the instruction of American youth in the duties, 
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and Appendices, embracing important State papers. “Introduction” 
and “sample copy” price, 85 cents; “exchange,” 60 cents. 

Gow’s Morals and Manners. Good Morals and Gentle Manners. 
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principles which not only determine the character of the individual, social and 
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ments of immortal destiny.”—H on. Newton Bateman, late State Superinten¬ 
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How to Teacli. A Manual of Methods for a Graded Course of In¬ 
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(For circular and price-list of Blank Forms, Records, and Reports, as pub¬ 
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“ Payne’s School Supervision is pre eminently practical, has no waste matter, and is full of valua¬ 
ble instruction a d suggestions. Every school superintendent should secure a copy of it.”—R ev. E. 
O. HAVEN, LL. D., Syracuse University, N. Y, 

Krusi’s Liffe off Pt>stalozzi. Pestalozzi, His Life, Work and In¬ 
fluence. Bv Herman Krusi. A. M., Instructor in Philosophy of Education in 
Oswego Normal and Training School. 218 pp., Svo, cloth. Portraits and other 
illustrat o is. $1 20. 

“ Probably no man living has more thoroughly investigated Pestalozzianism than Prof. Krusi. I 
heartily recommend the volume to the earnest teachers of our country,”— Hon. B. G. Northrop, 
late State Superintendent, Conn. 

E2 ailmo n’s History off IPedaTOSfY. t welve lectures on the His¬ 
tory of Pedagogy, delivered before the Ci icinnati Teachers’ Association. By 
W. N. Mailman, A. M. 12mo, cloth, 120 pp. Illustrated. 60 cents. 

Hail umm’s Kindergarten Culture. In the Family and Kin- 

dergarten. A complete sketch of Froebd’s System of r arlv Education, adapted 
to American Institutions. 12mo, cloth, 120 pp. Uniform with History of Peda¬ 
gogy. Illustrated. 60 cents. 

The Examiner, or TeacSicr's Aid. By Alexander Duncan, 
A.M. Designed to assist c andidates fo Teachers’ Certificates in preparing for 
Examination; Pupils in Reviewing their Studies; Teachers in Examining their 
Classes; and for the use of Normal Schools and Teachers' Institutes. 40 cents. 

Object Lessons. By Lilienthal and Allyn. A Systematic Course 
of Instructs n in Composition and Object -Lessons, prepared by order of the 
Cincinnati School Board, for use in the public schools. 20 cents. 

Smart’s Manual off Free Gymnastics, And Dumb-Bell Ex¬ 
ercises. A concise, practical treatise, designed for use in the school-room. By 
Hon. J\s. II. Smart, State Supt. Public Instruction, Ind. 16mo, 64 pp. Illus¬ 
trated. 15 cents. 


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H aving not only received diploma of honor 

of highest Merit at the United States Centennial International 
having been unanimously pronounced, l»y the Worla s best Jut ges, as 

SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS 


AND MEDAL 
Exhibition, but 








































































H aving not only received diploma of honor and medal 

of highest merit at the United State-. Centennial International Exhibition, but 
having been unanimously pronounced, by the World’s best Judges, as 

SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS. 


CAPTIVATE THE WOULD! 


ESTABLISHED, 1850. 


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CLOUGH & WARREN ORGANS. 






































SCHOOL SEATING, 

NATIONAL SCHOOL FURNITURE COMPANY, 

CORNER OF MADISON AND WABASH AVENUE, CHICAGO, ILL. 

SIX NEW BUILDINGS ERECTED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION IN 
NEW YORK CITY IN 1876, SEA'IED WITH THE PEARD 
DESK. SAME PRICE AS ORDINARY STYLES. 


PEARD’S patent folding desk and seat. 





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20 






























THE GEM DESK 

I S MADE IN FIVE SIZES, AND IS DESIGNED FOR A ROW, 
the largest one at the rear and the smallest at the front. 



Double Desks for two Scholars. 


SIZES. 

Length of 
Desk. 

Width of 
Desk. 

Height of 
Desk. 

Height of 
Seat. 

Age of Pupil 
Seated. 

No. 1. High School . 

42 inches. 

32 inches. 

28 inches. 

i 6J4 inches.; 

14 to 20 

2. Grammar . . 

42 

3 2 

26% “ 

15/4 

12 to 14 

3. Intermediate . 

40 44 

28 “ 

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WA “ 

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36 “ 

26 4 4 

23^ “ 

13/4 “ 

8 to 10 

5. 2d Primary . 

36 “ 

2 6 4 4 

22 J 4 

“ 

6 to 8 


Single Desk for one Scholar. 


SIZES. 

Length of 
Desk. 

Width of 
Desk. 

Height of 
Desk. 

Height of 
Seat. 

Age of Pupil 
Seated. 

No. x. High School . 

22 inches. 

32 inches 

28 inches. 

t 6J4 inches 

14 to 20 

2. Grammar . . 

22 4 4 

32 

\ 26% 44 

15^4 “ 

12 to 14 

3. Intermediate. 

20 4 ‘ 

28 “ 

I 25 

1414 “ 

10 to 12 

4. 1 st Primary . 

18 * 4 

26 ‘ * 

23^ “ 

1314 x ‘ 

8 to 10 

5. 2d Primary . 

18 44 

26 4 4 

1 22J4 ' ‘ 

12)4 44 

6 to 8 


Price-lists of these Desks can be obtained by addressing the manu¬ 
facturers, “The National School Furniture Compa¬ 
ny, 99 J1 3 an d 115 State street, Chicago, Illinois; and their use, or 
of those of similar character, is strongly commended on the grounds 
of neatness, comfort, economy of space, and health. 





















0 



esk and Sea 


POSSESS THE FOLLOWING EXCELLENCIES: 


"I THEY ARE MADE OF THE BEST SEASONED LUMBER. 
JL* 2 . They economize space, occupying when folded only io inches. 
One tenth more scholars can be seated by using this desk than by 
employing any other with which we are acquainted. They, when 
folded, afford ample room for gymnastic exercises. 3 . The desk 
lid, when in position, approaches nearer the body of the scholar, 
and can be used without leaning forward away from the support of 
the back. 4 . Sweeping is made easy by folding, enabling the janitor 
to keep the space between the desks perfectly clean. 5 . They con¬ 
form in construction to the best principles of physiological mechan¬ 
ics. The curve of the seat is so adapted to the back as to prevent 
weariness, and keep the spinal column in a natural and healthful 
position. 6 . By folding the desks the school-room can be changed 
into a pleasant hall, the desks being transformed into a comfortable 
seat, with ample space for the auditor. 

“THE STUDY DESKI 

Is designed to prevent the pupils from leaning over their books, 
a habit so productive of contracted chests and round shoulders. 
When the desk lid is folded the pupils have before them a convenient 
book-stand, which enables them to study in an erect posture. 

Dr. Henderson used the cuts of these desks in illustrating his 
chapter on School Furniture in his work on “School Architecture,” 
and those desiring full information concerning 



Are referred to that book, which can be obtained gratis^upon applica¬ 
tion to the 

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

National School Furniture Co., 

34 and 36 Madison street , Chicago . 














LASTS FOR MANY YEARS. WILL NOT WEAR GRAY OR 

GLAZE. 


CLOTH BLACKBOARDS. 


SUCCESS AT EAST! 

A SUPERIOR MARKING SURFACE LAID ON CLOTH, MAKING A 
durable, and at the same time, a flexible Blackboard. The surface is dead black; 
takes slate pencil or chalk. Will not crack, and is not affected by moisture. Can be 
applied to any surface or wall, by glue or tacks, and is equally serviceable for new build¬ 
ings or old walls. Manufactured in rolls 43 inches wide, any length de¬ 


sired. 

Price, per linear yard (io *4 square feet). $i 75 

In rolls, 12 linear yards. 20 00 


RTABLE BL 



We are now manufacturing Roller Blackboards of slated cloth, 
in place of manilla paper. The surface is better, and incomparably 
more durable. 



SIZES AND PRICES. 


48 x 42 inches.$3 00 

60 x 42 “ . 3 00 

72 x 42 “ . 4 00 

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FOR 


BUCKBOMS OF ALL KINDS, 

In manufacturing this Slating, we use the best of 
material, and guarantee every can to make as near a 
perfect Blackboard, when properly applied, as can be 
produced artificially. Buy none without our trade 
mark “National” is printed in blue on the can. 

Black. Green. 


Pints.$i 25 $1 50 

Quarts. 2 25 3 00 

Half gallons. 4 25 5 50 

Gallons. 8 00 10 00 


One Quart Covers Fifty Square Feet, 
Three Coats. 

Full directions for applying the slating, either on 
walls, wood or paper, accompany every can. Every¬ 
thing for schools. 

SURFACE IMPROVES MATERIALLY BY AGE & USE. 

Address 


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34 and 36 Madison street , Chicago. 






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every section of the United States, and by every 
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The Series is complete ., covering every variety and 
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guides the lisping tongue of the infant, to the abstruse 
and difficult “ West Point Course.” 

The series is uniformly excellent. Each volume, 
among so many, maintains its own standard of merit, 
and assists, in its place, to round the perfect whole. 

It is the pride of the publishers that their imprint ap¬ 
pears in not a single poor, or even indifferent Text-book. 
Its appearance, therefore, upon a title-page is a sort of 
guarantee which the educational public have learned to 
respect. 

For these reasons this Series has been justly denomi¬ 
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title which is now universally conceded in its broadest 
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The educational public are earnestly invited to write 
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W E APPEND HEREWITH, IN ADDITION TO THE 
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SOME OF OUR LATEST WORKS, 

which Teachers and others will do well to consult. 


Independent Series of Readers. 

By Prof. J. Madison Watson. 


List Prick. 

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Independent Second Reader, 160 pages.. 35 

Independent Third Reader, 340 pages... 50 

Independent Fourth Reader, 364 pages. 70 

Independent Fifth Reader, 336 pages. 00 

Independent Sixth Reader, 474 pages. 1 00 

Independent Spelling Book, 160 pages. 18 

Script Spellers. 

Independent Child’s' Speller, 80 pages. 18 

Independent Youth’s Speller, 168 pages. 35 


English Grammar By Diagrams. 

By Prof. S. W. Clark. 


Clark’s Easy Lessons in Language. 25 

Clark’s Brief Grammar. 40 

Clark’s Normal Grammar, for advanced classes. 70 

Brief Course In Arithmetic. 

First Lessons in Numbers. 17 

Manual of Practical Arithmetic. 35 

Complete Arithmetic. 63 

History. 

Barnes’ Brief U. S. History. 1 00 

Barnes’ History of France... 1 00 


Independent Course In Geography. 

By Prof. James Monteith. 

Elementary Geography... 55 

Comprehensive Geography. 1 10 

Fourteen Weeks In Each Natural Science. 

' By Prof. J. D. Steele. 


Steele’s Fourteen Weeks in Chemistry. 1 00 

Steele’s Fourteen Weeks in Philosophy. 1 00 

Steele’s Fourteen Weeks in Astronomy. 1 00 

Steele’s Fourteen Weeks in Geology. 1 00 

Steele’s Fourteen Weeks in Physiology. 1 00 

Steele’s Fourteen Weeks in Zoology. 1 00 

Steele’s Key to the Sciences. 1 00 








































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More than 30,000 copies have been placed in the public schools 
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“Indispensable to every student of the English language.”— M. R. Waite, Chief 
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Dr. John S. Hart, in an excellent lecture to teachers, says : “ A well-thumbed dic¬ 
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EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC 

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WEISBACH’S MECHANICS OF ENGINEERING. Theoretical Me¬ 
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by Eckley B. Coxe. With 906 woodcut illustrations. 8vo, 1100 pages, 
cloth.$10 00 

WEISBACH’S MECHANICS OF ENGINEERING. Applied Mechan¬ 
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and other Prime Movers, etc. Translated from the new German edition. 

2 vols. (In preparation.) 

PLATTNER'S BLOW-PIPE ANALYSIS. A Complete Guide to Quali¬ 
tative and Quantitative Examinations with the Blow-Bipe. Revised and en¬ 
larged by Prof. Richter, Frieburg. Translated from the last German edition, 
by Prof. H. B. Cornwall, assisted by J. H. Caswell. Illustrated with 87 
woodcuts and one lithographic plate. 8vo, 550 pages, cloth, price reduced . 5 00 

McCULLOCH’S ELEMENTARY TREATISE ON HEAT. On the 

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QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. A Guide to the Practical 
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BLOW-PIPE ANALYSIS. A System of Instruction in its Practical Use; 
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Institute, Brooklyn. Illustrated, 1 vol., umo, cloth . r 50 

MINIFIE’S MECHANICAL DRAWING. A Text-Book of Geometrical 
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OUTLINES OF PROXIMATE ORGANIC ANALYSIS. For the Iden¬ 
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RILPATH’S HISTORIES 

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